Arrests made over kano deadly attacks- GEJ

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (left) walks with Emir of Kano Ado Bayero at the emir's palace, in Kano, on Sunday.

KANO Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that arrests have been made over a wave of attacks in the city of Kano that killed at least 166 people and vowed to hunt down the backers of Islamist group Boko Haram.

"Some arrests have been made. Some died in the process. Some were suicide bombers," Jonathan said during a visit to Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

"There must be people who are sponsoring them. Terrorists all over the world have their source of income," said Jonathan, whose visit came two days after the coordinated bombings and gunbattles rocked Kano after Friday prayers.

Jonathan is battling with the worst crisis of his rule as the sectarian violence has raised fears of an all-out civil war in Africa's most populous nation and its biggest oil producer.

"We are also looking into those areas to make sure that the so-called Boko Haram... those who are encouraging them, those who are sponsoring them, shall be brought to book," he vowed.

Jonathan inspected some of the eight sites targeted in the attacks claimed by Boko Haram, including a regional police headquarters, and visited some of the wounded at a military hospital.

He also met the Emir OF kano Ado Bayero, and pledged to boost security, saying "a terrorist attack on one person is an attack on all of us."

But unrest erupted in the north again on Sunday, with 10 people killed in pre-dawn gun attacks in the town of Tafawa Balewa, in the neighbouring state of Bauchi.

Around 20 explosions reverberated across the city on Friday, with a police headquarters and other police stations, a secret police building and immigration offices being targeted.

Gunfire also erupted in several areas of the city and a Channels Television journalist covering the unrest was among those shot dead.

The attacks sent residents fleeing in fear or kept many indoors on Sunday.

"How can I go out while such a huge number of the people have been killed? I have to respect the dead," said food trader Shehu Lawan.

In Sunday's unrest, 10 people were killed in Bauchi after gunmen attacked a police station and robbed a bank, police said.

"In the exchange of fire that ensued, a policeman, a soldier and eight unidentified civilians were killed by stray bullets," police spokesman Mohammed Barau said, adding that six suspects had been arrested.