Talk of the day.....what your view on Eagle square bombing

At least eight people were killed in
two car bombs outside the justice
ministry in Abuja. Photograph: Pius
Utomi Ekpei/Getty Images
Jenny Percival and agencies in Abuja
At least eight people were killed in
Nigeria today when suspected
militants from the country's oil
region attempted to wreck 50th
anniversary celebrations for the
country's independence with an
unprecedented series of car bomb
attacks on Abuja, the capital.
The explosions came an hour after
the main militant group in the oil-
rich southern delta, the Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta (Mend), threatened in an email
to attack the festivities and warned
people to evacuate the area.
"Several explosive devices have been
successfully planted in and around
the venue by our operatives working

inside the government security
services," the email, signed by
spokesman Jomo Gbomo, said. "In
evacuating the area, keep a safe
distance from vehicles and trash
bins."
President Goodluck Jonathan, who
was inspecting a guard of honour at
the time, called it a "wicked act of
desperation by criminals and
murderers".
Police confirmed that two car bombs
had detonated outside the justice
ministry in Abuja. A third, smaller
explosion hit a venue at nearby Eagle
Square, where the president sat with
hundreds of Nigerian and foreign
dignitaries. Jonathan, who faces an
election next year, left in an
armoured limousine without making
a scheduled address. The
celebrations, with army bands,
dancing children and air force
displays, continued without him.
Mend has been fighting for years for
a greater share of oil revenues from
the Niger delta, home to Africa's
biggest oil and gas industry. The
delta, which is also home to the
president, is impoverished and
polluted by spills.
In its warning email, Mend said: "For
50 years, the people of the Niger
delta have had their land and
resources stolen from them." The
group has previously operated
primarily in the delta, hundreds of
miles from the capital, although it
has struck offshore oil installations
and in the country's commercial
capital, Lagos. Today's attacks, the
first on Abuja and launched in
defiance of tight security
surrounding the celebrations
marking Nigeria's independence
from the UK, are the militants'
boldest yet.
"Two car bombs exploded and eight
people are confirmed dead," Abuja
police spokesman Jimoh Moshood
told Reuters. At least one of the dead
was thought to be a policeman, while
a security agent was seen lying on
the ground after the Eagle Square
blast.
Mend's attacks subsided after an
amnesty deal last year provided cash
for fighters and the promise of job
training. However, many ex-fighters
say the government has failed to
fulfil its promises.
Elizabeth Donnelly, Africa
programme manager at the foreign
policy thinktank Chatham House,
said: "This latest violence has broken
the amnesty but the questions will be
which part of Mend has perpetrated
the violence – it could be men from
the lower ranks who did not benefit
from the deal – and whether or not
this is part of a bigger, longer term
strategy."
She added that few ordinary
Nigerians would have sympathy with
the terrorists, but neither did many
have confidence in the government.
Nigeria's oil production has climbed
from about 1.6m barrels a day
before the amnesty to around 2m
now. A return to violence could have
implications for Nigeria's economic
growth.
Alan Cameron, of Business Monitor
International, said the attacks risked
reinforcing foreign perceptions that
Nigeria was at risk of slipping into
violence, necessitating military
intervention, or even a coup. But he
added: "In our view, these fears are
still a little overdone, although
today's incident will create huge
pressure on Jonathan to show that he
can keep the situation under
control."