Prayers of peace turn to fear of attack

KANO (AP):

The aging Muslim spiritual leader of this northern Nigeria city, his eyes heavy with fatigue, leaned into a microphone yesterday and whispered to God his wish for peace after the killing of at least 185 people in an attack by a radical Islamist sect.

On the street, however, smudged black graffiti written in charcoal gave a different message: "Boko Haram good".

Though businesses reopened and traffic yesterday again filled the streets of Nigeria's second-largest city, people in Kano remained fearful the radical sect known as Boko Haram will attack again. That tension only increased as police announced they had discovered 10 unexploded car bombs around the city, as uniformed officers and soldiers melted away from public view in this city of more than nine million people.

"We are not safe at all," warned resident Aminu Garba, 38. "We are not safe."

Police issued a statement late yesterday giving a fuller account of what happened during Friday's attack that saw at least two Boko Haram suicide bombers detonate explosive-laden cars. The statement by State Police Commissioner Ibrahim Idris described attackers as speaking accented Hausa and other languages not normally heard in Kano as they assaulted police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria's secret police.

The attack killed 150 civilians, 29 police officers, three secret police officers, two immigration officers and one customs official, Idris said, raising the toll to 185 dead. Medical workers and emergency officials say they still expect the death toll to rise.