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Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram suspected of detonating two bombs at ThisDay newspaper offices in Abuja and Kaduna
A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives on Thursday at the offices of ThisDay, an influential daily newspaper, in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, while in Kaduna a man threw a bomb near another office of the newspaper, killing at least seven people in the attacks, witnesses said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, though the attacks mirrored others carried out by the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, which has been responsible for hundreds of deaths in Nigeria this year.
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack as "ignoble, misguided, horrendous and wicked". The government would "continue to uphold the constitutional right to freedom of expression in general and press freedom in particular," the statement read. "Criminal elements bent on instilling fear in the minds of Nigerians and foreigners will not succeed."
In Abuja, the suicide bomber drove the car through the gates of ThisDay's office, and into the reception area before the explosion, said Nwakpa O Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross. The blast killed at least three people and wounded others, he said.
Soldiers and police officers quickly surrounded the building, which had part of its roof torn away and all its windows blown out by the force of the explosion. Debris was collected from the explosion for analysis, said Adenrele Shinaba, the capital's police commissioner.
The attack in Kaduna also included a car loaded with explosives, though people at the offices – which also houses the Moment and the Daily Sun newspapers – quickly surrounded the car, witnesses said. The driver then began shouting that there was a bomb inside, a witness, Jemilu Abdullahi, said.
Bystanders allowed the man to open the boot of the car and he pulled out an object and threw it at the crowd, which exploded, killing at least four people, Abdullahi said.
The authorities later arrested the bomber, said Kaduna's state police commissioner, Mohammed Jingiri Abubakar. "What I can tell you is that for these dangerous elements, everybody is a target," Abubakar said.
It is unclear why bombers targeted ThisDay, a newspaper owned by the politically well-connected media mogul Nduka Obaigbena, but another Nigerian newspaper, PM News, said that following recent threats by Boko Haram to attack media outlets over "negative" coverage of the sect, ThisDay's management had barred staff and visitors from accessing the offices via the front and had resorted to using the back entrance.
In 2002, dozens died in rioting in Kaduna after ThisDay published an article suggesting the prophet Muhammad would have married a Miss World beauty pageant contestant.
The attack comes as Boko Haram maintains its violent campaign against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect, which seeks to impose sharia law, is blamed for killed more than 440 people this year. Co-ordinated bombings and shootings in the northern city of Kano in January killed 185 people. Eight days ago, the US embassy issued a warning that Boko Haram could attack Abuja, including hotels frequented by foreigners.