Wednesday, June 25, 2014

At Least 21 Killed As Deadly Bomb Blast Hits Nigeria Capital Abuja



Devastating: An explosion has killed at least 21 people in a shopping mall in the Nigerian capital Abuja an hour before the national football team started playing in Brazil
An explosion in Nigeria's capital Abuja, has killed at least 21 people and wounded 52 others. Boko Haram are suspected to be behind the attacks.

Abuja residents were urged 'to remain calm and go about their normal business' by government spokesman Mike Omeri, who issued a statement after the bombRescue work: The blast came as Nigerians were preparing to watch their country's Super Eagles come up against Argentina at the World Cup in Brazil

From Al Jazeera:

Wednesday's latest explosion occured just two days after police blamed Boko Haram for a blast that struck a medical college in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, killing at least eight people and wounding 12 others.


"We received the information at about 1500 GMT about a blast" on Wednesday at the Emab Plaza, not far from the seat of government, Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said.

"Rescue operation has already commenced."


Tragedy: People could do little but watch as a plume of thick black smoke rose into the air, which could be seen a mile away from the site of the explosion
It was not clear what caused the blast but the armed group Boko Haram has attacked Abuja twice in the last 10 weeks, including a car bombing in April that killed 75 people at the Nyanya bus terminal on the city's outskirts, while a copycat bombing at the same spot on May 1 left 19 people dead.

A teacher at the college told AFP that the blast seemed to originate from a car park next to the post-secondary training school.

Boko Haram, which aims to create a state in northern Nigeria ruled by Islamic law, did not immediately claim responsibility but the school matched its target of Western education.

Helped: People crowd around an injured woman outside the shopping mall following the blast. Police had already detained a suspect in the hours following the explosion
Rescue work: The blast came as Nigerians were preparing to watch their country's Super Eagles come up against Argentina at the World Cup in Brazil
The armed group, which has attracted international condemnation since April when it kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls who remain captive, has also been blamed for abucting 60 girls and women and 31 boys from villages in northeast Nigeria over a three day period - Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Wounded: At least 17 more people were injured in the blast, including this man being helped to safety. The government has said it will check the activities of 'insurgents'
Guard: Nigerian soldiers lined the streets as chaos gripped the capital in the wake of the attack. Many are pointing the finger at the militant group Boko Haram
Emergency: Workers carry a man who was injured into the Maitama general hospital. The explosion was at Emab Plaza, near the Banex Plaza shopping district
Constant threat: Abuja is in the centre of Nigeria and Boko Haram militants have spread their attacks to the capital from their stronghold in the north east
On Saturday, scores of Boko Haram fighters attacked four other villages close to Chibok, in Borno state, near the Cameroon border, from where hundreds of girls were kidnapped in April.

Witnesses said at least 33 villagers were killed as well as six vigilantes and about two dozen Boko Haram fighters.

Crowded: The shopping centre was reportedly teeming with people at the time of the explosion this afternoon. 'I heard the explosion and (felt) the building shaking,' said Shuaibu Baba, who had a narrow escape. He said he rushed downstairs to find that the driver who had dropped him a few minutes earlier was dead
Nigeria's government has not succeeded in curbing the armed group's violence.
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