NIGERIA: Police suspect Islamist sect for attack on a police station in capital Abuja
Record ID:
234729
NIGERIA: Police suspect Islamist sect for attack on a police station in capital Abuja
- Title: NIGERIA: Police suspect Islamist sect for attack on a police station in capital Abuja
- Date: 17th June 2011
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JUNE 16, 2011) (REUTERS) POLICE HEADQUARTERS WITH FLAMES FROM THE BLAST FIRE SERVICE ENTERING POLICE HEADQUARTERS VEHICLES DESTROYED BY THE BLAST (SOUNDBITE) (English) EYE WITNESS, PASCAL AMOFU, SAYING: "I was driving past when I noticed this explosion. I didn't know it was an explosion, I thought it was an earthquake initially because it shook me in the car and my car actually was shifted in the road where I was driving. I now stood and I saw a cloud of smoke with shrapnel's in the air, that's when I knew that this was a bomb. I had to stop by to come actually see what was happening and the cloud of smoke I saw is incredible." VARIOUS OF FIRE FIGHTERS PUTTING OUT FLAMES VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CARS
- Embargoed: 2nd July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Police
- Reuters ID: LVAE9PXZVFBKFPYO8B7Y9STZX8T9
- Story Text: A suspected suicide bomber struck a car park at a police station in Nigeria's capital on Thursday (June 16), officials said, and witnesses said they had seen several dead bodies carried from the wreckage.
Dozens of vehicles were set ablaze by the blast and thick black smoke billowed into the sky. Police said they suspected an Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for many other attacks in the country in recent months.
One man driving past the scene at the time of the explosion said the blast was so powerful that he initially believed it was an earthquake.
"I was driving past when I noticed this explosion. I didn't know it was an explosion, I thought it was an earthquake initially because it shook me in the car and my car actually was shifted in the road where I was driving. I now stood and I saw a cloud of smoke with shrapnel's in the air, that's when I knew that this was a bomb. I had to stop by to come actually see what was happening and the cloud of smoke I saw is incredible," said Pascal Amofu.
Boko Haram, which says it wants wider application of sharia (Islamic law) in Africa's most populous nation, has carried out almost daily attacks in and around the northeastern city of Maiduguri in recent months.
Its targets have been soldiers, policemen, prison warders and politicians as well as religious and traditional rulers opposed to its ideology. The sect has warned it would carry out more strikes if its demand were not met.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said a suicide bomber was killed in the blast. Witnesses said police failed in an attempt to stop a vehicle entering the car park shortly before the explosion was heard.
Members of the Red Cross were picking up the remains of dead bodies from the site as fire fighters put out flames coming from dozens of vehicles hit by the blast. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None