OUTRAGE: Nigerians in anguish as terrorists kill 20 near Abuja, ahead of World Economic Forum next week
Special to USAfricaonline.com, CLASSmagazine, and USAfrica multimedia networks, Houston. Follow Twitter.com/Chido247, Facebook.com/USAfricaChido
In a severe act of impunity by local terrorists in Nigeria, another bomb attack has hit Nyanya, a suburb of Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, near a bus station that was the scene of a bomb attack on April 14, 2014. Today’s explosion left
about 20 persons dead while the April attack killed 70 people.
“There was an explosion there this evening at about 8:00 pm (1900 GMT),” National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Manzo Ezekiel told AFP.
He said it was “not an accident,” adding that rescue officials were at the scene.
“There was a loud blast then a ball of fire,” witness Lateef Adebayo told Reuters. “There were many dead bodies and ambulances were rushing there.”
Another witness, JoeUdofia, told Reuters there was a “deafening explosion, then the area nearNyanya bridge was on fire. There were many people in the vicinity.” According to Nigeria’s Vanguard newspape
r, there were 16 corpses at Asokoro Hospital as of 9:05 pm local time. The Nigerian Tribune reported that nine people died in the attack, and that over 20 were left injured.
AFP reported that at least 16 people died from the blast.
A Reuters photographer reported that 11 “charred bodies” at a nearby hospital came from the blast site.
One eyewitness said he saw 20 bodies at the scene of the bombing, BBC reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which claimed the April 14 bombing, has attacked Abuja before, though most of their strikes have occurred in northeast Nigeria.
Abuja is due to host the World Economic Forum on Africa next week. The event includes international leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and others. The Nigerian government says a hefty security operation is planned for the capital during the forum. USAfrica wt wire reports.
