Boko Haram Plans Fresh Attacks In Abuja, says US Embassy

Suspected members of Boko Haram.

Suspected members of Boko Haram arrested in the past

As Nigerians continue to count the number of lives lost to series of bombs, suicide and gun attacks by members of Boko Haram militant Islamic sect in Yobe and Borno State in Nigeria’s Northeast last Friday, the US Embassy has alerted its citizens that the deadly Islamic group may strike in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

 

Suspected members of Boko Haram who allegedly bombed INEC Office in Suleja being arraigned at Magistrate's Court Abuja on Tuesday .

In a press release in Abuja on Sunday, the US Embassy specifically mentioned Transcorp  Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels as possible targets of the fundamentalist sect.

 

“Following the recent Boko Haram, aka Nigerian Taliban, attacks in Borno and Yobe State, the U.S. Embassy has received information that Boko Haram may plan to attack several locations and hotels in Abuja, Nigeria, during the Sallah holiday.  Potential targets may include the Nicon Luxury, the Sheraton Hotel, and the Transcorp Hilton Hotel”, said the Embassy.

 

The three hotels are heavily patronised by high government officials, diplomats and politicians. The hotels are also favourable venues for high scale events.

 

Though the Embassy did not specifically mentioned the likely day or the time of the attack, it however said it may occur even as the country celebrates the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.The Embassy therefore warned its diplomats and staff had been instructed to avoid those hotels:  “All U.S. Government personnel have been instructed to avoid these locations, and previously scheduled events have been cancelled.

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American citizens should expect additional police and military checkpoints, additional security, and possible road blocks in Abuja for the foreseeable future”.

 

Meanwhile,  Ibrahim Bulama, a Nigerian Red Cross official has said the number of lives lost to Boko Haram attacks in Damaturu,  Yobe State may top 100 after hospitals and clinics complete the tabulation victims of the attack even as it was learnt that the radical sect killed a police officer who was on his way to prayer ground in Maiduguri today. There have been condemnations of last Friday’s Boko Haram attacks.

 

The U. N Security Council, in a statement issued on behalf of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the attacks in the cities of Damaturu and Maiduguri as “criminal and unjustifiable”.

 

The Organisation asked it members to help Nigerian authorities bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice while calling for “an end to all violence in the area and offering sympathy for the victims. Also, Pope Benedict XVI who told tourists that he is following events in Nigeria called for an end to all violence, saying it only increases problems, sowing hatred and division even among the faithful.

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