Nigeria attacks: Two suicide bombers kill 18 people on the outskirts of Abuja

Authorities have began investigations into whether the explosions were orchestrated by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram

Nigeria security personnel searching the scene of the bomb blast

At least 18 people have been killed in bomb blasts on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja, as the authorities begin their investigations into whether the explosions were orchestrated by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. In Kuje township on the evening of 2 October, a suspected suicide bomber struck simultaneously at a police station and a nearby market. A bomb also exploded at a bus stop in the Nyanya neighbourhood.

“Preliminary investigations revealed the bomb blasts were carried out by two suicide bombers, a male and a female,” a police spokesman reported. Officials from the National Emergency Management Agency said 41 people had been injured.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions, but they are being linked to Boko Haram due to the similarity with previous attacks. In the past six years, the group has directed its operations at the north-eastern part of the country where it has been trying to establish an Islamist state. Around 17,000 people are believed to have been killed since the insurgency began.