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Nigerian gov't to foot medical bills of bomb victims: official

Xinhua, October 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian government has offered to foot the medical bills of victims of the series of explosions which rocked two satellite towns in the nation's capital city late Friday, an official said Saturday.

A total of 18 people were killed and 41 others injured by the three explosions.

Director general of the National Emergency Management Agency Mohammed Sani-Sidi, who led the evacuation of victims to hospitals, said arrangement has been made for the injured to be treated free of charge.

The rescue agency said a total of 15 dead victims and 20 injured were found at the site of two explosions in Kuje, a suburb of the Nigerian capital city, while three others were killed and 21 injured in another explosion at a local bus terminus in Nyanya, located on the outskirts of Abuja city.

John Ahwen, a senior official of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, who coordinated security operations around the crime scenes, also confirmed the casualty figures given by the response agency.

The official said the first explosion late Friday, in front of a local police station in Kuje town, was carried out by a 10-year old female suicide bomber who was prevented from gaining entry into the police station. Another explosion followed 15 minutes later inside the town's main market.

The bombing incidents occurred on a day after 14 people were killed and 39 others injured in devastating multiple blasts which rocked parts of Nigeria's Maiduguri city, capital of the northeastern state of Borno.

Boko Haram, a local insurgent group seeking an end to Western education, is blamed for the attacks. The group, which started its operations in 2009, often claims responsibility for such attacks in the West African country.

In 2014, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for series of bombing which took place in Nyanya. Scores of people were killed in the devastating attacks.

The group has allegedly killed more than 13,000 people and abducted hundreds since in its six-year insurgency. Endit