A bombing blamed on Boko Haram in the heart of Nigeria's capital has renewed fears of a worsening Islamist insurgency as security forces struggle to prevent attacks stretching from remote villages to the seat of government.
Wednesday's blast killed at least 21 people, shaking the crowded Emab Plaza in downtown Abuja during the afternoon rush as shoppers were buying groceries ahead of the country's World Cup match against Argentina.
The explosions struck "a very prominent street and it sends a very loud message," said Nnamdi Obasi, Nigeria researcher at the International Crisis Group. "The message is that everywhere in the city is vulnerable."
Dozens of soldiers and police guarded the Emab Plaza on Thursday, closing off the main road and denying traders access to their shops, while the burnt-out shells of cars littered the blast zone.
Shellshocked shopkeepers and witnesses swapped stories of near misses as they returned to the scene.
"I ran after a customer who was at that gate to give him his phone which he forgot in our shop," said trader Suleiman Mohammed.
"I saw a large crowd of people there. The bomb exploded before I got back to the shop."
Police say one suspect has been arrested after the explosion, while another was shot dead by troops as he tried to escape on a motorbike.
The area -- one of the busiest in central Abuja and sandwiched between two other shopping centres -- was littered with body parts in the immediate aftermath and soaked in pools of congealed blood.
Shopkeeper Osaretin Odafe spoke of seeing "many bodies dismembered".
Boko Haram's five-year uprising to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands. There were hopes earlier this year that the violence had been contained in the group's remote northeastern stronghold.
Those hopes were shattered by an April 14 bombing at a bus station on the outskirts of the capital and a similar attack at the same spot on May 1.
"The security situation in the northeast is very grim and the return of bombings in Abuja really raises questions about how much progress there has been against the insurgency," said Obasi. "It is embarrassing for the government."
A security officer for a foreign company who asked to remain anonymous said his firm was advising employees in Abuja wherever possible and "to avoid crowded places".
The attack underlines the broader decline in security in Nigeria's capital, which had been spared Boko Haram violence for nearly two years prior to the April 14 attack.
In a statement on Thursday, the European Union condemned the bombing of the shopping plaza and urged that "the perpetrators must be brought to justice."
"The EU stands with the government of Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and violence," it said in a statement.
- Heightened fears -
The Boko Haram insurgency has received unprecedented global attention in recent weeks following the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in April, which sparked worldwide outrage.
If their involvement is confirmed, this week's attack would suggest Boko Haram has the ability to bypass security "even in the most well-guarded of areas", said Ryan Cummings, a South Africa-based security analyst for Red 24.
He said the attack would spread fear outside of Abuja, "extending to cities such as Lagos which have been spared from the violence this far".
However, Andrew Noakes, who heads the Nigeria Security Network of analysts said the significance of the latest attack should not be overstated.
"Abuja is not too far from some of the northern areas where Boko Haram has operated in force in recent years, and carrying out bomb attacks does not necessarily require a high level of sophistication or infiltration into the local population."
Nigeria has been waging an offensive against the rebels' strongholds in the northeast since May last year, but it has been widely criticised as ineffectual. The insurgents have killed more than 2,000 people this year alone.
A bombing blamed on Boko Haram in the heart of Nigeria’s capital has renewed fears of a worsening Islamist insurgency as security forces struggle to prevent attacks stretching from remote villages to the seat of government.
Wednesday’s blast killed at least 21 people, shaking the crowded Emab Plaza in downtown Abuja during the afternoon rush as shoppers were buying groceries ahead of the country’s World Cup match against Argentina.
The explosions struck “a very prominent street and it sends a very loud message,” said Nnamdi Obasi, Nigeria researcher at the International Crisis Group. “The message is that everywhere in the city is vulnerable.”
Dozens of soldiers and police guarded the Emab Plaza on Thursday, closing off the main road and denying traders access to their shops, while the burnt-out shells of cars littered the blast zone.
Shellshocked shopkeepers and witnesses swapped stories of near misses as they returned to the scene.
“I ran after a customer who was at that gate to give him his phone which he forgot in our shop,” said trader Suleiman Mohammed.
“I saw a large crowd of people there. The bomb exploded before I got back to the shop.”
Police say one suspect has been arrested after the explosion, while another was shot dead by troops as he tried to escape on a motorbike.
The area — one of the busiest in central Abuja and sandwiched between two other shopping centres — was littered with body parts in the immediate aftermath and soaked in pools of congealed blood.
Shopkeeper Osaretin Odafe spoke of seeing “many bodies dismembered”.
Boko Haram’s five-year uprising to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands. There were hopes earlier this year that the violence had been contained in the group’s remote northeastern stronghold.
Those hopes were shattered by an April 14 bombing at a bus station on the outskirts of the capital and a similar attack at the same spot on May 1.
“The security situation in the northeast is very grim and the return of bombings in Abuja really raises questions about how much progress there has been against the insurgency,” said Obasi. “It is embarrassing for the government.”
A security officer for a foreign company who asked to remain anonymous said his firm was advising employees in Abuja wherever possible and “to avoid crowded places”.
The attack underlines the broader decline in security in Nigeria’s capital, which had been spared Boko Haram violence for nearly two years prior to the April 14 attack.
In a statement on Thursday, the European Union condemned the bombing of the shopping plaza and urged that “the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”
“The EU stands with the government of Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and violence,” it said in a statement.
– Heightened fears –
The Boko Haram insurgency has received unprecedented global attention in recent weeks following the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in April, which sparked worldwide outrage.
If their involvement is confirmed, this week’s attack would suggest Boko Haram has the ability to bypass security “even in the most well-guarded of areas”, said Ryan Cummings, a South Africa-based security analyst for Red 24.
He said the attack would spread fear outside of Abuja, “extending to cities such as Lagos which have been spared from the violence this far”.
However, Andrew Noakes, who heads the Nigeria Security Network of analysts said the significance of the latest attack should not be overstated.
“Abuja is not too far from some of the northern areas where Boko Haram has operated in force in recent years, and carrying out bomb attacks does not necessarily require a high level of sophistication or infiltration into the local population.”
Nigeria has been waging an offensive against the rebels’ strongholds in the northeast since May last year, but it has been widely criticised as ineffectual. The insurgents have killed more than 2,000 people this year alone.
