Buhari offers condolences to the people with Sri Lanka after bomb blasts leave over 200 dead

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his condolences with Sri Lanka after the island nation suffered a terrible Easter day bombing during which about 207 people were killed when Islamic terrorists detonated about eight bombs across the country.

Earlier today, a total of eight blasts tore through high-end hotels and churches across Sri Lanka in the worst violence since the country’s civil war ended a decade ago. Killing at least 35foreigners too, the  attacks were the worst act of violence to hit the country since the end of a bloody civil war that killed up to 100,000 people.

For many in Sri Lanka, the coordinated attacks brought back painful memories of life during the long-running conflict, when bomb blasts were a frequent occurrence. At least two of the bombs involved suicide bombers, including one who lined up at a hotel breakfast buffet before unleashing carnage.

So far, the casualty tolls stands at 207 dead and 450 people injured including British, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and American citizens. Already, the Sri Lankan government has moved into action, arresting eight people and investigators have said they would look into whether the attackers had overseas links.

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the horrific attacks, which were targeted at churches and hotels. He has extended his deepest condolences to the families of those killed in the attacks and wished speedy recovery to the injured, saying Nigeria stands with the people of Sri Lanka at this terrible moment.

President Buhari said: “We stand with victims of terrorism all over the world because we know and understand this harrowing inhuman activity."  He urged the authorities not to spare the wicked elements behind these mischievous attacks.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that so far the names that have come up are local but that investigators would look into whether the attackers had any overseas links.  He also acknowledged that information was there about possible attacks but added that the government’s first priority would be to apprehend the terrorists.

Mr Wickremesinghe said: “While this goes on we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken. First and foremost we have to ensure that terrorism does not lift its head in Sri Lanka.”

Already, the Sri Lankan government has imposed a nationwide curfew and curbed social media access to restrict what it called wrong information spreading in the country of 21m people. Among the churches targeted in the attacks was the historic St Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic church in Colombo, where the blast blew off much of the roof.

Apparently, Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit prominent churches. His alert said that a foreign intelligence agency has reported that the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo.

The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues. It appears that his warning was not acted upon and precautions were not taken to avert the bombing.