3:05
October 1, 2010
A militant group in Abuja, Nigeria is claiming responsibility for a car bombing that took place Friday. The Blast killed eight people and left 21 wounded. The bombing took place outside of the Justice Ministry, just as the nation was celebrating its fifty year anniversary of independence. The Red Cross has confirmed that the death toll is expected to rise. The militant group MEND (The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) is claiming responsibility for the attack. MEND is an umbrella organization of several rebel groups who have been battling the government for years over the distribution of the country’s oil wealth. According to the Information Minister Dora Akunyili the celebration was still a successful event even after the blasts took place. The explosion was about 0.6 miles from the site where the countries president was attending the event. Akunyili also stated that rebel groups had been in the area warning crowds to evacuate the area because there were planted explosive devices. Rebels also told the anniversary attendees to stay away from vehicles and trash cans. In a Statement the rebel group said “there is nothing worth there is nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure," For 50 years, the people of the Niger Delta have had their land and resources stolen from them. The constitution before independence which offered resource control was mutilated by illegal military governments and this injustice is yet to be addressed."
The article was not very informative other than the fact that it informed the public that a car bombing had taken place. I would like to see a follow up article with more information on the group MEND, and what their purpose is. I found it odd that there were reports that they actually warned people that they had planted explosive devices in the area. I’m not even really sure if this was meant to be a terrorist attack or if they were just practicing an extreme form of protesting against the anniversary event. Form what the article said it doesn’t seem like the government officials were very affected by the bombing, I almost feel like they didn’t really care. The article did briefly mention that there was an investigation afterwords but didn’t state any further details.
1 comment:
If they are fighting over unequal distribution of oil wealth then I imagine that the problem will only continue to grow as resources decline. It seems like government officials should have been more active than how they were portrayed in this article.
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