The US embassy in Nigeria warned Sunday that Boko Haram has planned an attack on Nigerian luxury hotels in the capital, signaling a possible expansion of the Islamist group's uprising.
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Skip to next paragraphNigerians in the capital of Abuja are anxiously watchful today after a warning from US Embassy in Nigeria Sunday that three luxury hotels frequented by foreigners and wealthy Nigerians may be the next target of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.
The warning comes after a violent weekend in the country's northeast, where the group is based. Widespread attacks Friday killed more than 100 people, the Associated Press reports, and were followed with the stabbing of a local police officer Sunday. While violence has been a regular occurrence in the northeast, attacks in the capital, located squarely in the center of the country (see map), have been sporadic.
More frequent attacks there ? a strong possibility, if the group's threats are to be believed ? would signal a geographical expansion in their uprising. Boko Haram ? which aims to spread strict Islamic law throughout Nigeria, divided between the predominantly Christian south and predominantly Muslim north ? attacked the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in August, killing 24, and the federal police headquarters in June.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting Nigerian newspaper The Daily Trust, reports that Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa said, "More attacks are on the way. We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians."
Amid the warnings and spate of weekend attacks, the Nigerian government is still downplaying the threat that Boko Haram faces, the Associated Press reports. President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian hailing from the country's south, said in a national television address Sunday, "we still have incidents happening here or there." Defense Minister Mohammed Bello said "a lot of progress" has been made in the northeast and that security forces and police were "doing very well in containing the situation."
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