THE eemir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi, on
Saturday, said the perpetrators of the
devastating bomb blast that killed over 120
people and left hundreds injured, planned the
attack for two months, though he did not give
details to support the claim.

The emir said this during his visit to the affected
Kano Central Mosque, adjacent to his palace.
Sunday Tribune gathered that Sanusi, who was
outside the country when the attack occurred,
had recently, at the affected mosque, directed
civilians to take up arms against the Islamist
extremist group, Boko Haram.

The emir also directed, yesterday, that the
mosque, which was reportedly blood-stained, be
washed and cleaned up.
“From all indications, they (attackers) have been
planning this for at least two months,” Sanusi
said as he arrived at the mosque straight from
the airport, adding that “I have directed that the
mosque be washed and cleaned and prayers
should continue there.
“We will never be intimidated into abandoning
our religion, which is the intention of the
attackers.”

Responding to the deadly attack, the chairman,
Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment,
Dr. Bukola Saraki, described it as sad and
shocking, urging President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration to take responsibility for security
challenges facing the country.

He expressed the All Progressives Congress
(APC)’s readiness to partner with the
government in abating the crisis.

Saraki, who spoke with journalists shortly after
he obtained the certificate of clearance from the
APC screening committee to contest the 2015
elections into the Senate, urged Nigerians,
irrespective of political affiliations, to join hands
with the Federal Government in sending away
terrorism from the country.

Also commenting, leader of the National Action
Council (NAC) and Owa’Tapa of Itapa Ijesaland,
Dr Olapade Agoro, described the killing as “a
highly condemnable desecration of a holy place
of worship,” just as he described the
perpetrators as “intemperate animals simply
after blood-letting.”

Meanwhile, prompt response from residents, on
Friday, averted what could have resulted in
another catastrophic incident in Kano, as they
descended on a female suicide bomber who was
reportedly desperate to gain entry into the
Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, where
most victims of the Friday attack were being
treated, to detonate bombs.

Sunday Tribune gathered that no fewer than five
suicide bombers were rounded up and killed in
the city on Friday, as findings showed that
determined worshippers at the Kano Central
Mosque actually overpowered an insurgent, who
was shooting at the confused worshippers after
the bomb blast and set him ablaze.

A source told Sunday Tribune that it took the
alertness of sympathisers carrying dead bodies
and helping injured victims to the hospital to
stop the female suicide bomber who pretended
as a sympathiser to gain access into the hospital
premises.

“She made frantic effort to detonate the
improvised explosive device on her, but the
people at the vicinity pounced on her, removed
the device and in annoyance, set her ablaze,” the
source claimed.

In the meantime, the state governor, Dr Rabiu
Musa Kwankwaso, while condoling the victims at
their hospital, called on the perpetrators of the
gruesome killing to come out for dialogue.

This is just as he announced that the state
government would foot the bill of all injured
victims receiving treatment in various hospitals
in the state.

Governor Kwankwaso berated the attack, saying
it was uncalled for. He added that whatever was
behind the move, God was not happy with killing
of innocent people.

The governor, who had to cut short his political
consultation journeys to some states in the
country, following the explosion, said he was
touched when he heard of the incident.
He urged people of the state to continue to pray
to God to touch the hearts of those behind the
act, so that they would come out and dialogue
with government.

Meanwhile, investigation showed that the
statement credited to Sanusi, who also worships
at the mosque, might have precipitated the
attack.

He was said to have called on the people of Kano
to defend themselves against insurgents’ attack.
He made the statement when some Muslim
faithful paid him a visit in his palace. It was in
the course of responding to their observations
that he reportedly made the statement.

freenortheast:
9inches< by your father

OrlandoOwoh:
Any observant northerner does not need to be a DSS operative or an officer of any security agency before he knows how Boko Haram operates - they are rag tags. I believe the Emire has been gathering his own intelligence.