Explosions rock Borno few hours after Jonathan’s visit

Posted by admin Boko Haram, Borno, Latest Politics, State News Saturday, March 9th, 2013

Seven loud explosions shook Nigeria’s northeastern city of
Maiduguri on Friday, witnesses said, hours after President
Goodluck Jonathan ended a trip there to try to galvanize support
for his battle against Islamist insurgents.

Witnesses said the explosions happened within minutes of each
other, suggesting the kind of coordinated strike that used to be the
hallmark of Islamist sect Boko Haram, before a military campaign
weakened them. They remain the main security headache to
Africa’s top energy producer.

President Jonathan spent the night in Maiduguri, the epicenter of
the insurgency, which seeks to carve an Islamist state out of
religiously mixed Nigeria. It was his first trip to the troubled
northeast since becoming president.

During it, he poured cold water on the idea of an amnesty for
Islamist fighters and urged the region’s tribal elders to do more to
help fight the insurgents.

The blasts in the Jajeri ward of the city occurred about five hours
after he left in the afternoon, witnesses said.

“I heard seven explosions successively. They were huge, but I have
no way of knowing whether the explosions hurt anybody,” Jajeri
resident Usman Abubakar told Reuters by telephone.

There was no word on casualties and a security forces spokesman
for the northeast was not immediately available for comment.
/Reuters
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