April 2014 Nyanya bombing

{{Short description|2014 bombing of a bus station in Nyanya, Nigeria by Boko Haram}}

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = April 2014 Nyanya attacks

| partof = the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Location

| map = Nigeria Nasarawa State map.png

| map_size = 250px

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| location = Nyanya, Nasarawa, Nigeria

| target = Crowds at the Nyanya Motor Park bus station in Nasarawa, near the Federal Capital Territory{{cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/14/world/africa/nigeria-blast/index.html?hpt=wo_c2 | publisher = CNN| title = Blast kills 71 people at bus station in Nigeria| access-date = 15 April 2014 | date = 14 April 2014| first1=Nana | last1=Karikari-apau | first2=Vladimir|last2= Duthiers}}

| coordinates =

| date = 14 April 2014

| time =

| timezone = GMT+1

| type = Twin bombing

| fatalities = 88+

| injuries = 200+

| victim =

| perps =

| perp =

| perpetrators =

| perpetrator = Boko Haram

| susperps =

| susperp =

| weapons =

}}

On 14 April 2014 at about 6:45 am, two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station in Nyanya, Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 88 people and injuring at least 200. The bus station is 8 km southwest of central Federal Capital Territory.{{cite news|url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_EXPLOSION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |title=Minister: 75 dead in blast at nigerian bus station |date=15 April 2014 |access-date=15 April 2014 |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416192342/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_EXPLOSION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |archivedate=16 April 2014 }}{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27018751 | title = Nigeria violence: 'Seventy killed' in Abuja bus blasts| publisher = BBC News | access-date = 14 April 2014 | date = 14 April 2014}}{{cite news|last=Ijagba|first=Gbenga Seun|title=Nigeria Bomb Blast Kills At Least 71|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303663604579500971757800310|access-date=14 April 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=14 April 2014|author2=Drew Hinshaw|location=Abuja}}{{cite news|last=Abrak|first=Isaac|title=Nigerian bus station bombing kills 71 on edge of capital|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKBREA3D0AD20140414|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420125016/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKBREA3D0AD20140414|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 20, 2019|access-date=14 April 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=14 April 2014|author2=Felix Onuah|author3=Camillus Eboh|author4=Tim Cocks}}{{cite web |url=http://www.date360.net/profiles/blogs/how-the-abuja-bomb-was-planted-survivors-recount-their-experience |title=How the Abuja Bomb was Planted + Survivors Recount Their Experience - Date360 | Naijablogger |publisher=Date360 |date=2014-04-15 |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421074307/http://www.date360.net/profiles/blogs/how-the-abuja-bomb-was-planted-survivors-recount-their-experience |archive-date=2014-04-21 |url-status=dead }}

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the bombing six days later. It occurred just hours before the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping.

Attack

File:Nyanya bombing VOA.jpg, April 15, 2014.]]

Explosives hidden inside vehicles detonated during morning rush hour in a bus station in Nyanya on the outskirts of Abuja. After the initial blast, further explosions occurred as fuel tanks in nearby vehicles ignited.{{cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/10765974/Blast-in-Nigerian-capital-kills-71.html | title = Blast in Nigerian capital kills 71 | work =The Daily Telegraph | first = Mike |last=Pflanz | date= 14 April 2014 | access-date = 15 April 2014}}

Abbas Idris, head of the Abuja Emergency Relief Agency, confirmed that 71 people had been killed and 124 injured.{{cite web|title=71 killed in a Bomb Blast at a Bus Station in Nigeria|url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/04/71-killed-in-a-bomb-blast-at-a-bus-station-in-nigeria/|work=IANS|publisher=news.biharprabha.com|access-date=14 April 2014}} The bus station serves a poor, ethnically and religiously mixed community. Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, confirmed that numerous injured victims were undergoing treatment in the hospital. By April 15, the death toll had increased to 75, as investigators continued to sift through the wreckage at the blast site. By April 18, the death toll had increased to 88, with more than 200 reported injured.

Responsibility

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the bombing six days after it occurred—the video claiming responsibility features the group's leader Abubakar Shekau and was released on 19 April.{{cite web|first=MICHELLE |last=FAUL |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/19/boko-haram-nigeria-blast_n_5179133.html |title=Islamist Militants Boko Haram Claim Deadly Nigeria Blast |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2014-04-19 |access-date=2014-08-26}} Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche was arrested by Interpol in Sudan in May 2014 on the suspicion of being one of the masterminds behind the bombings.{{cite news|last=Freeman|first=Collin|title=British-born Boko Haram member arrested over bomb attack|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/10833040/British-born-Boko-Haram-member-arrested-over-bomb-attack.html|access-date=15 May 2014|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 May 2014}} Hours after the attack, Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Response

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan visited the scene of the blast, where he said:

We have lost quite a number. We condole with our country men and women. The issue of Boko Haram is quite an ugly history within this period of our own development. Government is doing everything to make sure that we move our country forward. But these are the unnecessary distractions that are pushing us backward. But we will get over it.{{cite web | url = http://www.channelstv.com/2014/04/14/president-jonathan-cancels-trip-to-ibadan-visits-scene-of-blast/ | title = President Jonathan Cancels Trip To Ibadan; Visits Scene Of Blast | publisher = Channels Television | access-date = 15 April 2014 | date=14 April 2014}}

The attack came the day after Nigerian senator Ahmed Zanna claimed the Islamist group had killed 135 civilians in northeast Nigeria in three attacks during the week preceding the blast.{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27006876| title = Nigerian senator: '135 civilians killed' in attacks | publisher = BBC News | date = 12 April 2014 | access-date = 15 April 2014}}