A suicide bomb blast rocked the UN compound in the Nigerian capital Abuja yesterday, killing at least 18 people, blowing out much of the building and marking a sharp escalation in a wave of attacks.
Witnesses reported that the bomb went off after a suspect forced his way through security and rammed the car into the building. The first two floors were blown out and rescue workers scrambled to help those left inside.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bombings in recent months in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer.
Such attacks, however, have not targeted international organisations, and yesterday’s bomb marked a new level of audaciousness.
If the sect is found to be the culprit, it will surely lead to further concerns that it has formed links with extremist groups outside Nigeria, including Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.
“So far, we have 18 dead and eight injured,” Mike Zuokumor, police commissioner for the Federal Capital Territory, which includes Abuja, told journalists.
“It was a Honda Accord car. The suicide bomber died immediately as the bomb cut him into three.”
At least 60 wounded were being treated at the national hospital and officials called for blood donations, a radio report said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was at the building during a visit in May, strongly condemned the attack and said “considerable” casualties were expected. Mr Ban said staff for 26 UN agencies and departments were in the building.
“This was an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others,” he said. “We condemn this terrible act utterly.”
Hundreds of people with a variety of nationalities were believed to have worked in the building, and the attack was among the bloodiest targeting the UN globally.
AFP correspondents saw wounded people being taken from the building, including those with bloodied heads. Some appeared lifeless but it was unclear whether they were dead. One UN staff member said people had been trapped in the building that sustained heavy damage.
A spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that a colleague on site had sent an SMS message to say that the explosion “appears to have come from the gate entrance to the building”.
Security was tightened throughout Abuja after the blast, with military checkpoints set up along the road to the airport.
The UN building is located in Abuja’s diplomatic zone, not far from the US embassy.
Security is usually extremely tight, with non-UN vehicles typically not allowed to approach the gate leading to the compound, and the building is set back from the street.
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.