For the third time in just over a day, Kano, the economic hub of northern Nigeria, this evening cowered in fear as explosions rocked parts of the town.

Information reaching News Express has it that the explosions went off in Nasarawa, GRA, in Kano metropolis, spreading fear less than two days to Christmas. Details of the cause of the blasts and casualties are not yet available.

Fears of a bloody Christmas in the state, one of the centres of Boko Haram’s activities, had heightened yesterday when the local offices of two of Nigeria’s leading telecommunication companies came under attack by suicide bombers.

First to be attacked was the Airtel office the Airtel regional office located at the popular Malam Kato Square, where a lone suicide bomber succeeded in detonating a bomb at about 8.45 a.m., destroying the office. The bomber died instantly while the operator of the company’s generator set was injured in the attack.

About five minutes later, another suicide bomber struck at the MTN office at Maimalari Road in Bompai, dying instantly in the blast.

The attacks made the Joint Security Task Force (JTF) to increase its presence on Kano streets but this evening’s explosions indicate that the web of insecurity in the state remains very much a reality.

•Photo: JTF operatives on duty.