26 killed in Zaria as El-Rufai bans hawking, begging

At least 26 people were killed when a bomb blast ripped through a packed government office in Zaria, Kaduna State, yesterday, in a suspected suicide attack by Boko Haram militants.

The explosion occurred about 9.00a.m, as primary school teachers and public sector workers were queuing for identity checks, witnesses said.

The verification was ordered by the Kaduna State government to weed out non existing workers from its pay roll and conserve funds for development.

Zaria, a mainly Muslim city some 75 kilometres (47 miles) north of the state capital, Kaduna, is near the border with Katsina and Kano states.

On Monday night, a young girl believed to be aged just 13 was killed when explosives strapped to her body detonated near a major mosque in Kano city.

The bombing followed a twin attack on a mosque and restaurant in the central city of Jos on Sunday, which left 44 people dead, and a suicide bomb attack on a church in Potiskum that killed five.

A local government worker, Mahmud Abbas, said public sector staff and primary school teachers were undergoing screening to identify potential ghost workers on the state payroll.

Another staff member who was waiting outside, Mohammed Abubakar, said: “We were taking turns going into the hall in batches for the screening and also to get our pay cheques.

“The first batch had gone in. There were almost 100 people there, including the staff, the screening committee and accountants from the banks.

“There was a huge explosion inside the hall followed by billows of smoke and dust. Now the area has been cordoned off by security men.

“I can’t give you an exact toll but I believe that dozens must have died given the number of people inside and the sound of the explosion.”

The state governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, confirmed that the number of the people killed in the bomb blast had risen to 26, including a two-year old.

“I am sad to confirm that an improvised explosive device (IED) most likely carried by a suicide bomber exploded in the Sabon Gari Local Government and killed 26 people including a two-year-old. 32 people are injured and on admission at the ABUTH Zaria,” he said on his Facebook page.

“The secretariat was crowded today because the newly appointed LG chairman was taking over and some LG staff from Lere and Ikara LGs were undergoing biometric verification.”

“I just left the scenes of the explosion and the hospital and on my way back to Kaduna. May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace,” he stated.

Also, the Chief Medical Director, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Prof. Lawal Khalid, said that the death toll in the Zaria suicide attack now stood at 26.

Khalid told journalists in Zaria that 31 injured persons in the attack were brought to the hospital and one of them was in critical condition.

He said the remaining 30 victims on admission at the hospital were in stable condition and responding to treatment.

The CMD lauded the people of the area for their massive donation of blood, saying the gesture had helped to save the lives of the victims.