Islamists attack toll crosses 143 in Nigeria—The pioneer—22.2.12

Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 143 people in north Nigeria’s largest city, a h o s p i t  a  l   o f  f  i c i a  l   s  a i d   o n Saturday, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. Soldiers and police officers s w a r m e d   o v e r   s t r e e t s   on Saturday in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious hub in Nigeria’s Muslim north. But their effectiveness remains in question, as the uniformed bodies of many of their  colleagues lay in the o v e r  f  l  ow  i n g  mo r  tu a r  y   o f Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano’s largest hospital. A hospital official there said at least 143 people died in the attacks on Friday. The count included some bodies already claimed by families for immediate burial per Islamic law, the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to disclose the figure to journalists. Other bodies could be lying at other clinics and hospitals in the city. In a statement issued late o n Friday,   f e  d e r a l   p  o l i c e spokesman Olusola Amore said attackers targeted five police buildings,  wo immigration offices and the local headquarters of the State Security Service, Nigeria’s secret police. Nwakpa O Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers offered first aid to the  wounded, and evacuated those seriously injured to local hospitals. He said, officials continued to c o l l e c  t   c o r  p s  e s   s  c  a t t e r e  d around sites of the attacks. A survey of two hospitals by the Red Cross showed at least 50 people were injured in Friday’s attack, he said. State authorities declared a 24-hour  curfew late Friday as re s ident s  hid  ins ide   t h e i r homes amid the fighting. A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre AbulQaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists. He  aid the attack came as the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the  police. Boko Haram has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement  strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a  multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.