Nigeria Imposes Curfew in Northern City After Deadly Bomb Attacks

VOA News

20 January 2012

Nigeria Imposes Curfew in Northern City After Deadly Bomb Attacks

Smoke rises from the police headquarters as people run for safety in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, January 20, 2012. .

A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in Nigeria's second-largest city, Kano, after a coordinated series of bomb attacks.  Nigerian police say at least seven people have been killed in the bombings that targeted police and government offices in the northern city.

The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A suicide bomber set off a huge explosion at the office of Kano's Inspector General of Police at about 5:00 p.m. local time Friday.  Within minutes, blasts could be heard at several other locations throughout the city.  Most of the targets appeared to be police stations.

Witnesses described chaos in the streets as people fled in panic, by foot and in vehicles, with sirens blaring and gunshots echoing around them.  Reporter Salusi Radiu of VOA's Hausa Service says he counted more than two dozen blasts over a 90-minute period.