Forty-four people were killed while 47 sustained injuries in Jos, capital of Plateau state, when Boko Haram insurgents struck inside a mosque and a restaurant in the city, on Sunday.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, coordinator of the north-central zone of the national emergency management agency, said the injured were responding to treatment in different hospitals in Jos.
A resident of the town had told TheCable that the attack happened around 9 pm while people were listening to Ramadan lecture inside a mosque.
The main target in the mosque attack is believed to be Sani Yahya Jingir, an influential cleric who heads the Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’a Wa Ikamatu Sunnah, a powerful Islamic movement with millions of followers across Nigeria.
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He has been preaching against Boko Haram’s ideology since 2010 and has, in the past, survived an assassination attempt in his house.
Last year, he wrote a book titled ‘Boko Halal’ – meaning ‘Western education is permissible’ – to counter Boko Haram’s position that it is forbidden.
Sunday’s attacks happened hours after a suicide bomber killed about six people at a branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the Jigawa area of Potiskum, Yobe state.
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This is the first attack in Jos since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn into office.
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