20101226
reuters

JOS, Nigeria, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The police in Nigeria's central north Plateau State has confirmed the killing of 32 people after three blasts rocked Nigeria's restive Jos city.

State police commissioner Abdelrahman Akano told reporters in Jos, the state capital, on Saturday that 74 others were seriously injured and are receiving treatment at various hospitals in the state.

The police chief said security agencies in the state have put in place security measures to curtail future attacks.

He told reporters that some of the measures put in place include drafting of military personnel to worship centers with anti bomb unit squad combing such places of worships for any signs of explosive or device that could spark another blast.

Meanwhile, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau on Saturday condemned the Christmas eve bomb blasts that hit some parts of Jos and declared that perpetrators were out for a resurgence of violence.

In a statewide broadcast, the governor said all the attacks were carried out simultaneously; the aim of the masterminds is to spark up another round of violence.

"It is also part of calculated efforts to scuttle the efforts the state and Federal Government to consolidate on the peace achieved," the governor said.

"This sad and ugly development is condemnable, as its masterminds and merchants of violence who trade in human pain, anguish and shedding of blood have remained committed in their quest to reduce Plateau into anarchy," he added.

"The enemies of Plateau in their vicious quest have continued to promote hatred and incite animosity among the people but we must rise in unison as one people and say no to violence," Jang said.

He described this year's Christmas as a black Christmas for Plateau people.

"When we should be celebrating peace, here we are crying," he said.

The governor commiserated with all who lost their loved ones in the attacks, saying it was a collective loss.

He urged the people to remain calm, peaceful and law abiding as security agencies was working hard to apprehend the perpetrators.

The bomb blasts which hit Anguwan Rukuba, the Kabong Satllite Market and the flyover at Gada Biyu, came one week after a Nigerian court sentenced 15 people to 10 years each in prison for involvement of the violent crisis in Jos in March.

Jos was plunged in a pool of blood on March 7, when members of local Muslim and Christian communities fought each other in revenge for previous killings.

Police said 109 people were killed in the March 7 tragedy, mostly women and children, weeks after hundreds died in waves of sectarian violence in the region.