Bomb blasts kill 25 in northeastern Nigeria

Bomb blasts kill 25 in northeastern Nigeria

2011-06-27 20:08:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 25 people have died in three bomb blasts that struck the northeastern region of Nigeria on Sunday evening, officials said Monday.

The bombings took place at popular nightspots around 5 p.m. local time in the city of Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's Borno State, state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi told local media The Nation.

According to Abullahi, two men riding motorcycles came around the back of a popular nightspots, which are known as beer gardens, and threw the explosives. The police spokesman confirmed the number of deaths, but no information regarding the number of injured was disclosed.

Officials have blamed Nigeria's militarist Islamic group Boko Haram, which has constantly sought the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group's name, 'Boko Haram,' in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as 'Western religion is sacrilegious' or 'non-Islamic religion is a sin.'

Boko Haram's stronghold is in Maiduguri, and most of the group's attacks have occurred in the northern regions of the African country.

Less than two weeks ago, a powerful car bomb struck the Louis Edet house of the National Police Force Headquarters, killing at least four people, including two people inside the explosive-filled vehicle and one security official.

Earlier this month, at least 11 people were killed after a series of bomb explosions struck two separate police stations in Maiduguri and the Catholic Cathedral of St Patrick's Church located in the same city. The bomb attacks were also attributed to the radical militant group Boko Haram.

And on October 1, 2010, more than 20 people were killed when two car bomb explosions disrupted Nigeria's Independence Day celebrations. Rebel group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the attack.

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