- Title: NIGERIA: MEND rebel guerrilla group issue email bomb warning
- Date: 2nd October 2010
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (OCTOBER 1, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JOURNALIST WORKING AT COMPUTER JOURNALIST'S COMPUTER SCREENS ON DESK
- Embargoed: 17th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9VVBTZ2VH0I9DPQ1Z6487BRJL
- Story Text: Reuters received an email signed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) spokesman Jomo Gbomo warning that the rebel organisation had planted several explosive devices at the parade ground where celebrations are taking place to mark 50 years of Nigerian independence.
The email warned that people should evacuate the area and ''keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins.'' The email was received on Friday (October 1) an hour before two explosions were heard in the Nigerian capital Abuja, near a parade of top government and foreign officials.
A Reuters cameraman at the parade reported security forces and firemen had been trying to douse a fire in a vehicle after the first explosion when a second blast hit. People scattered and a young boy was seen being carried away to a nearby vehicle.
Broadcast television footage showed no interruptions to the lavish parade of thousands of soldiers and the great and the good of the continent's biggest oil producer.
MEND is Nigeria's biggest militant group and has fought for years to obtain a greater share of federal oil revenues for the impoverished Niger Delta. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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