Two car bombs detonated today at a bustling bus terminal in Nigeria's central city of Jos leaving 118 people dead and wounding dozens of others.

The second bomb exploded around half an hour after the first and was believed meant to target rescue workers rushing to the scene of the first round of violence.

Like Us on Facebook

Witnesses believe that both attacks could have been prevented had police reacted more quickly to citizen concerns.

The white van holding the first bomb had been left parked at a market place near the bus terminal for hours, according to eye-witnesses, and several vendors had reported the suspicious-looking van to local authorities but to no avail.

A man was arrested in the same area on Saturday with explosives attached to his body, and militants had also threatened to plant bombs in strategic areas around the city.

Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the blasts bore identifying hallmarks similar to other bomb attacks previously carried out by the extremist Islamist sect Boko Haram.  

The Boko Haram claimed responsibility for two separate bomb attacks in the nation's capital last month that killed 120 dead and wounded 200 others.

The radical group is also responsible for the kidnapping of more than 300 Nigerian school girls in April and has recently stepped up a bloody five-year campaign to establish a new government under their rule.

President Goodluck Jonathan extended his sympathies to the families affected by the violence and vowed to deploy more forces to deal with the Islamist faction.

However, many citizens have expressed doubts over the Nigerian government's ability to curtail the escalating violence given the fact that it had been slow in responding to the earlier kidnapping of 300 schoolgirls.

Jos is a city with a large Christian population which could account for the sudden terrorist attacks on the part of Muslim extremists.