Abubakar Shekau, leader of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja that killed at least 75 people and left hundreds severely injured.
The proscribed group leader declared this via a video posted on the internet today.
“We are the ones that carried out the attack in Abuja,” Shekau said in the 28-minute video, referring to the deadliest attack ever in Nigeria’s capital which targeted Nyanya bus station packed with morning commuters.
Seated with a kalashnikov assault rifle resting on his left shoulder and dressed in his usual military uniform, the insurgent commander spoke in both Arabic and the Hausa languages.
The bombing at the Nyanya bus terminal on the outskirts of Abuja was the first major attack in the capital in two years.
Most of the insurgents’ violence in recent months had been concentrated in the group’s remote northeastern stronghold, where the military is waging an 11-month-old offensive.
The attack in Abuja underscored the serious threat the Islamists pose to Africa’s most populous country and top economy.
Shekau indicated that Boko Haram has fighters based in the capital.
Referring to President Goodluck Jonathan, he said: “We are in your city.”
Shekau has been declared a global terrorist by the United States, which has put a $7 million bounty (5.1 million euros) on his head.
Hours after the Abuja bombing, gunmen stormed a girls’ school in the northeast and kidnapped 129 students, an attack also blamed on Boko Haram that has sparked global outrage.
Forty-four of the girls have escaped so far, according to officials, and the military has said it has launched a major search and rescue operation.
