Outrage over bomb attacks in Nigeria

A day after two car bombs struck the city of Jos in Nigeria's volatile Middle Belt, Emaka Godwin (name changed) is happy to be alive. "We were just sitting down when we heard a heavy sound, a "bang", he told a DW correspondent in Jos, his voice still shaky. "I thought I had already died. I was lying on the ground for five minutes, before I started running. I am in pain".

While the survivors were struggling to come to terms with their shock, rescue workers continued to dig through the rubble left by the two car bombs. The first blast went off in a busy market in the city centre. "There was a second explosion 20 to 30 minutes later nearby. It happened in a bus that the driver had stopped, to check the reasons for the hold-up", Plateau State Police Commissioner Chris Olakpe told a DW correspondent at the scene.

"We'll find more bodies"

The second blast killed a number of rescue workers and volunteers who had rushed to the scene to assist the victims of the first explosion. "Pieces of human bodies were lying around like spare parts", Ibrahim Baba Hassan, a member of the State Assembly, told DW after visiting the scene. Fire fighters spent the night battling the blaze ignited by the attacks.

By Wednesday morning, the rescue crews had discovered at least 118 bodies. 64 people were undergoing treatment in hospitals. "We don't rule out that we might find more bodies", police chief Chris Olakpe said. Hundreds of people streamed to the hospitals and morgues in search of friends and relatives that were still unaccounted for.

The attacks bore the trademarks of the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram, that has waged a deadly campaign against the government since 2009. The group has not officially acknowledged that it is behind Tuesday's blasts, but has in the past repeatedly planted bombs in public places in northern Nigeria and the capital Abuja.

President: "Cruel and evil attackers"

Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan called the perpetrators of the attack "cruel and evil".

"President Jonathan would like to assure all Nigerians that this government remains committed to win the war against terror. This administration will not be cowed by the antics of enemies of human progress and civilization", the president said in a statement.

However, anger is growing across the country over the government's failure to stop Boko Haram. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the insurgency this year alone. Attacks by Boko Haram have increased in recent months. In April, more than 120 people died after a bomb blast in the capital Abuja. The abduction of at least 276 schoolgirls on April 15th and the inability of the Nigerian government to rescue them, has led to international outrage, with celebrities across the world joining a campaign calling for their release.

The government's response - a state of emergency in three northern states and a heavy-handed military campaign - is widely criticized by human rights activists and analysts. The army and the police have been accused of gross human rights violations in their fight against Boko Haram. "It is not safe in northern Nigeria at all. The government must finally live up to its expectations", Ibrahim Baba Hassan, a representative of Jos in the state parliament, told DW's Hausa Service.

New clashes between Christians and Muslims?

Jos lies in Nigeria's Middle Belt region which divides the country in the predominantly Muslim North and Christian South. It is a flashpoint for religious violence. Fears are high that the attacks could ignite a new round of interreligious clashes. Ibrahim Baba Hassan however thinks that such fears are baseless. "The target of yesterday's attack were not Christians or Muslims. The terminus is for everybody, so the attacks had a general target. This attack is not going to affect our co-existence. All people are just tired of this crisis."