Last weekend’s coordinated attacks on security targets in Kano were the bloodiest since Boko Haram began its campaign against the government.

Residents of the northern Nigerian city of Kano are now counting the cost of Friday, January 20’s  series of attacks claimed by the Boko Haram Islamic sect that left over 160 people dead, including a reporter for Channels TV, the local media reported. Last weekend’s well coordinated attacks and the ensuing gun battles with the police were the bloodiest ever since the sect was formed in 2002.

Similar detonations were also reported Friday night in the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa, where incumbent Governor, Timipre Sylva of the ruling PDP has been disqualified from standing for re-election by his party. The blasts that did not cause any casualties, were said to be the result of infighting in the PDP, The Guardian cited local police as saying.

A reporter in Kano said he counted 162 bodies in the mortuary of the city’s main hospital on Saturday, but the casualties are expected to rise. The atmosphere in the centre of Kano was one of extreme nervousness, with soldiers patrolling streets to provide back up to the police, Sunday Vanguard reported. At one of the mortuaries, officials were struggling to cope with the number of bodies. Special roadblocks were set up, particularly around police stations that had not been attacked.

Some reports suggested that the attacks might have been carried out by suicide bombers – civilians who could easily hide a few grenades under their robes. Sunday Vanguard quoted eyewitnesses as saying corpses littered the streets on Saturday as wagons were deployed to collect them. Around 100 wailing people, waited outside a morgue to collect their relatives’ remains. The police said in a statement that four police stations around the city, the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS), as well as the passport and immigration offices had been targeted. There was also a shoot-out at the headquarters of the State Police Command at Bompai, reports said.

A 24-hour curfew has been declared in the Kano metropolis by the State Government, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, President Jonathan has promised to get to the root of the attacks. He described the perpetrators of the criminal acts as “enemies of our democracy,” while commiserating with families of the victims of the blasts. In a related development, the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, has declared the key Boko Haram suspect, Kabiru Sokoto, who escaped from police custody recently, wanted. Meanwhile, the army in Port Harcourt, Rivers State have confirmed the arrest of five Boko Haram suspects who were planning to launch attacks on army facilities in the city last December, The Punch reported.