Tears and anger in Nigerian city after deadly attacks

Sitting on raffia mat and surrounded by sympathizers, Gudusu tried hard to hold back tears as prayers were offered for his brother, killed in Friday's attacks in Nigeria that claimed 150 lives, mostly civilians.

Gudusu, 58, voiced outrage at the Boko Haram Islamists who said they carried out the gun and suicide bomb attacks in the northeastern city of Damaturu that targeted police offices and churches.
#
“Boko Haram claimed responsibility for this attack and I blame them for the death of my brother and the suffering that
his has brought to the family,” said Gudusu, whose family name has been withheld for security reasons.

His 43-year-old brother, a trader, did not return home Friday. His body was later found at the city morgue along with scores of others and he was buried on Saturday.

“I have every reason to be angry because these people have destroyed my life by killing my only brother,” Gudusu told AFP outside his mud-brick house.

Although the city celebrated Islam's annual Eid al-Adha on Sunday, Gudusu and his relatives were not in festive mood.

In previous years, he would host friends and relatives to a feast after prayers on Eid, with his two wives and 11 children dressed in their finest clothes.

But this year he simply attended morning prayers and slaughtered a lamb.

“Grief gives no room for merriment”, he said.

While Christian churches and police were among the initial targets for the attacks, gunmen fired indiscriminately in the streets and Muslims and Christians alike were among those killed, local officials reported.

“The death toll cuts across religion, profession, status. There was no particular social stratum that was excluded,” said Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for Nigeria's emergency management agency in the northeast.

“The attack seems to have been haphazardly carried out which explains the heavy toll. Both Muslims, Christians, civilians, soldiers, policemen and other paramilitary personnel were all part of the casualties.”

The police headquarters lay in ruins Sunday, with its offices burnt and its roof either blown off or caved in. Smoke wafted from still-smouldering heaps of ashes.

Pieces of shattered wood and sheets of mangled roofing littered the scorched building, in front of which stood four burnt-out vehicles.

Eid celebrations in Damaturu were understated, with the city placed under dusk-to-dawn curfew after the attacks which officials said included at least five suicide bomb blasts.

“It's a season of mourning and celebration at the same time,” said Damaturu resident Aisami Bundi.

“People are struggling to strike a balance between the merriment of the season and the losses the city has incurred,” he added.

Gun-toting policemen watched over the streets while the burnt shells of two military vans, a police truck and three cars served as a reminder of the deadly violence that caught this dusty, sleepy city unawares.

Even though he earns a meager living as a farmer and trader, Gudusu will now have to care for his brother's wife and six children.

Shaking his head, Buba, a sympathizer sitting next to Gudusu as he mourned, said: “I can't comprehend how one can justify such wanton killings in Islam, which strongly abhors bloodletting.”