[ 2011-08-27 ]

Investigators probe suicide attack on UN in Nigeria
ABUJA (AFP) - Investigators on Saturday probed a
suicide attack at UN headquarters in Nigeria after
the bomber managed to penetrate tight security and
ram his car into the building, killing at least 19
people.

Top UN officials, including the world body's
security chief, were due to arrive in Nigeria on
Saturday night and rescue workers combed through
rubble at the building to ensure no one remained
trapped.

Emergency officials visited area hospitals to
check on casualties amid calls for blood
donations. Dozens were wounded with various
degrees of injuries, and a doctor at the national
hospital called the situation "overwhelming."

A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Nigerian
Islamist sect known as Boko Haram said in a phone
call to an AFP journalist that the group carried
out Friday's attack.

The veracity of his claims could not be confirmed
and police said all possibilities were being
considered.

The sect has not previously been known to target
international organisations, but there have been
growing concerns over whether it has formed links
with extremist groups outside of Nigeria,
including Al-Qaeda's north African branch.

The death toll from the huge bomb that blew out
the first two floors of the building climbed to
19, according to emergency management agency
spokesman Yushau Shuaib, one more than a previous
toll provided by police.

It was believed that everyone had now been
evacuated from the building, with a number of
people rescued after apparently having been stuck
in a lift for hours on Friday afternoon, said
Shuaib.

But rescue teams arrived at the compound on
Saturday morning saying they wanted to be sure no
one was left inside.

"There could still be some people under the
rubble," a member of the rescue team who did not
want to be named told AFP.

One of the victims was earlier confirmed as a
30-year-old Norwegian woman, and the rescue team
member said she had been pulled from under a
collapsed wall at the reception area on the
building's ground floor following an effort
involving five people on Friday.

The building houses some 26 UN agencies and
departments, with hundreds of employees with a
variety of nationalities believed to have worked
there. It was among the bloodiest attacks
targeting the United Nations globally.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon strongly
condemned the attack and dispatched Deputy UN
Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro and UN security
chief Greg Starr to Nigeria.

"They are arriving tonight," UN spokesman in
Nigeria Charles Nosa Osazuwa said. He declined to
provide further details for now.

Questions have been already been raised at the UN
over how the bomber managed to make his way
through two gates before ramming into the
building.

Police spokesman Yemi Ajayi said it was too early
to say who the main suspect in the bombing would
be.

"Let the end of the investigation reveal that," he
said. "We're taking several approaches to the
investigation, so we don't want to put our mind in
one place. That alone may jeopardise the
investigation."

Security was increased throughout the capital,
with key areas under 24-hour guard and checkpoints
mounted. Police had also been put on alert
nationwide in Africa's most populous nation and
its largest oil producer.

A bomb blast that rocked a car park at national
police headquarters in Abuja in June and killed at
least two people was claimed by Boko Haram. Police
first said it was the result of a suicide blast
before later retracting their statement, saying
they could not be sure.

Most of the attacks blamed on the sect have
occurred in the country's northeast, but a number
have been carried out elsewhere, including the
previous explosion in Abuja as well as several in
Suleija near the capital.

Source - AFP

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