Suspected Boko Haram Terrorists Kill 50 In Jos

No fewer than 50 people were killed when suspected Islamic extremists detonated two bombs at two separate locations in Jos.

It was gathered that the first bomb went off at a restaurant opposite the Bauchi Road campus of the University of Jos at about 9.15pm, while the second one went off at a mosque near Yan Tyre (tyre market) area of Dilimi junction, along the same Bauchi Road, about 15 minutes later.
Though the Director in charge of the North-Central zone of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Mohammed Abdulsalam, has put the number of deaths in the Sunday night’s bomb attacks on Jos at 44, an eye witness said that some of the victims had been taken away for burial by their relatives before rescue efforts started.

Abdulsalam also told journalists via telephone on Monday morning that 48 others were badly injured and had been hospitalised in various hospitals in the Plateau State capital.


According to the eye witness, the front of the mosque is usually crowded because it is where the leader of the Izalla sect, Sheikh Yahaya Jingir, normally performs the tafsir (breaking of fast). The insurgents were said to have targeted worshippers who usually mingled around after the breaking of fast.

It was further gathered that the insurgents first started shooting sporadically to beat a barricade mounted by security men in front of the mosque, before launching the attack.

The eye witness said, “We have counted 15 bodies that died instantly from the first blast. We are now moving to the scene of the second one at the mosque. But the soldiers are asking us to go back because the casualties are many.”

Hoodlums also took advantage of the situation by looting shops and burning Christian worship places. More than 15 shops were looted by the hoodlums while The First African Church Mission, St. Michael Parish, nearby was set ablaze

In his reaction, Governor Simon Lalong described the incident as unfortunate.

A statement signed by the Director of Press Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Nanle, said, “The unfortunate incidence of the sporadic bomb blasts at Bauchi Road and Dilimi-Yan Taya, as well as the sporadic gun shots within the Jos Metropolis on Sunday July 5, 2015, in this month of religious piety for the Moslem Ummah on the Plateau, is highly condemnable.

“The Executive Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, is therefore calling on all inhabitants of Jos North and the entire citizens of the state to remain calm in the midst of the unfortunate multiple bomb blasts and sporadic gun shots in the neighbourhood of Dilimi-Yan Taya and Bauchi Road which has left 44 persons dead and 88 injured (as confirmed by NEMA).

“It is regrettable that at a time when Moslem faithful are settled to the fulfilment of a religious obligation, agents of death, chaos and anarchy have chosen to disrupt the peace of the state by orchestrating a spade of sporadic bomb blasts to portray a state of dissatisfaction that pitches otherwise peaceful cohabitants against themselves.

“The Executive Governor of Plateau State commiserates with all the victims of this heinous act and calls on all citizens of the state to remain calm and stand in solidarity with one another in the face of this onslaught by agents of death in our collective resolve to remain as one united people in spite of ethnic and religious difference.

“The Government of Plateau State is more than committed to consolidate on the peace process that has seen the peace loving people of Plateau living in peace and standing united against the force of terror which seeks to set the people against themselves and portray the imaginary existence of religious divide with deliberate attacks on religious faithful at times like this. The government will most certainly continue with her ongoing consultative peace dialogue, with a view to fishing out agents of destabilisation and wade off the spade of systematic attacks which seem to show that the eminent end of insecurity is not at sight.”

Lalong expressed the determination of his government to stand firm to put an end to the current state of insecurity in the state

He added, “And we trust that the good Lord, the giver of life and the divine protector of all lovers of peace will give us the grace, wisdom and courage to conquer the challenges and stand hand-in-hand against the force of terror and enemies of the state.”

He directed all medical institutions in the state to respond to medical situations at hand in respect of the emergency. He also appealed to all voluntary aid groups to provide the needed first aid assistance that would save lives and property.

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