The archbishop of Jos in central Nigeria has said more must be done to protect ordinary people, after at least 30 were killed in twin bomb attacks. Archbishop Ben Kwashi told the BBC that most of the victims were poor and defenceless. The attacks on a crowded marketplace on Thursday has been blamed on Boko Haram. The Islamist group has previously targeted churches and mosques in Jos, which has a mixed population of Muslims and Christians. The Anglican archbishop said the bombers would not succeed in fomenting religious divisions in the city, as it was clear they did not represent Nigeria’s Muslim population. But he said ordinary people needed more protection. “Government must step up, to show that it cares about the weak, about the poor, about those who have no means at all in the society.” The blasts targeted Jos’s commercial district, near the Terminus bus station. The first explosion took place at an outdoor food stand. The second blast hit the marketplace. A similar attack in the same area of Jos in May killed more than 100 people. Boko Haram militants are suspected of being behind the attacks. It has not yet commented. It has taken over several towns and villages in the north-eastern states of Borno and Adamawa, declaring the area under its control to be a caliphate. On Wednesday, at least four people were reported killed and seven hurt in attacks by two female suicide bombers in Kano, the biggest city in northern Nigeria. Thousands of people have died and more than a million have been forced from their homes in the Islamist group’s five-year insurgency. — BBC Online
