by Isi Esene

Reports have it that at least 46 people were killed when two car bombs ripped through a busy market in Jos this afternoon.

Although many eyewitnesses put the number of fatalities at far above the figure, the police put the number at 45 with many others injured.

Plateau state police commissioner Chris Olakpe told reporters that 45 others were injured in the blasts which happened in the New Abuja Market area of the city.

According to the military, two bombs were concealed inside a truck and a minibus.

“The first IED (improvised explosive device) was in a truck. The second was in a minibus,” according to Kingsley Egbo of the military State Task Force (STF) in Plateau.

“The market was really crowded,” he added. “We are having a problem of crowd control… The emergency services have evacuated the casualties,” he told the AFP news agency immediately after the second blast occurred.

Barely two days ago, a deadly bomb blast occurred at a drinking joint in the Sabon Gari area of Kano killing about 10 people according to unofficial reports.

President Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with the families of those who lost their lives in the bomb attacks promising to implement the resolution of the French Summit which was hosted by French President, Francois Hollande.

In a press statement released by the Presidency this evening, President Jonathan assured Nigerians “that the government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization.”

The statement was signed by Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity.