Boko Haram claims Abuja bombings Boko Haram militia (File picture)
 Boko Haram militia (File picture)

Boko Haram militia (File picture)

Lagos — Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for twin bomb attacks on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the group said in a message posted on social media on Sunday evening.

At least 18 people were killed and 41 injured in the bombings on Friday night, in Kuje, to the west of Abuja, and in Nyanya, to the east, the authorities said.

Suspicion immediately fell on the Islamist militants, who last year said they were behind two attacks in Nyanya that left more than 90 dead.

The claim of responsibility on Twitter was signed by Islamic State in West Africa Province, used by Boko Haram since its pledge of allegiance to the militants in Syria and Iraq in March.

It showed photographs of three men in combat fatigues, holding automatic weapons and in front of the group’s insignia, and claimed they had carried out “martyrdom operations”.

The police on Saturday said “preliminary investigations revealed the bomb blasts were carried out by two suicide bombers — a male and a female”.

The Arabic message said the trio’s targets were police stations in Nyanya and Kuje, calling them “strongholds of the apostates [non-believers)”, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

One militant attacked Nyanya, the other two Kuje, it said.

Meanwhile, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday visited victims of a twin-blast in the country’s capital that killed at least 18 people and wounded 41 others, promising to pay for their treatment, his office said.

“On a visit to the survivors of the attack who are receiving treatment at the Trauma Centre of the National Hospital, President Buhari wished them full and speedy recovery,” presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina said in a statement.

“The president reassured the survivors that the federal government will take full responsibility for settling their medical bills,” he said.

Adesina said Buhari also ordered that the government would pay the medical bills of a young girl who was shot by armed robbers.

Kuje, near Abuja’s airport, is about 40km from the city centre and seat of government.

Its prison has been reported to be holding dozens of Boko Haram prisoners captured by troops.

The same bus station in Nyanya was hit twice last year.

Abuja was last attacked on June 25 last year, when 22 people were killed in a blast at a popular shopping centre.

Boko Haram violence has claimed at least 17,000 lives and forced some 2.5 million people to flee their homes in the region since 2009. — AFP

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