INDEPENDENCE DAY

ABUJA, Nigeria – Two car bombs blew up
on Friday as Nigeria celebrated its 50th
independence anniversary, killing at least
seven people in an unprecedented attack
on the capital by militants from the
country's oil region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta, the main militant group in the
country's oil-rich southern delta, had
threatened to attack the festivities and
warned people to stay away.
"For 50 years, the people of the Niger Delta
have had their land and resources stolen
from them," the group said in a statement.
While Nigeria, Africa's most populous
nation, is oil rich most people live on less
than $1 a day. The delta is very
impoverished and polluted from spills.
A third and smaller explosion hit a venue
at Eagle Square where President Goodluck
Jonathan stood with other dignitaries,
about a 10-minute walk from where the
car bombs detonated. A security agent
was apparently injured in that blast heard
by an Associated Press reporter, though
the militant group later denied placing any
explosives in the venue.
Friday's attacks were the militants' boldest
yet, striking in Nigeria's capital during an
event with heavy security held hundreds
of miles (kilometers) from the delta.
The car bombings seemed designed to
lure first-responders and then kill them
with a second blast. Five minutes after the
first vehicle exploded, the second went
off, killing at least seven people, a police
officer told an AP reporter at the scene. At
least one of the dead was a policeman, the
officer said. The officer spoke on the
condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to speak to reporters.
Inside Eagle Square, an AP reporter saw a
small explosive detonate before members
of the military gathered there. A security
agent was seen lying on the ground near
that blast.
The anniversary ceremony continued
without interruption.
In a statement Friday afternoon to the AP,
the militant group acknowledged that it
knew allowing the second car bomb to
detonate would put passers-by at risk.
We "warned the authorities ahead of time
who decided to ignore the warning and
alert the public," the group said. It added:
"The blame goes to the Nigerian
authorities and our message to the
families of those who may have been
affected is that we deeply regret any loss
of life."
Upset by oil spills and the region's
unceasing poverty, militants in the delta
have targeted pipelines, kidnapped
petroleum company workers and fought
government troops since 2006. That
violence drastically subsided after a
government-sponsored amnesty deal last
year provided cash for fighters and the
promise of job training. However, many
ex-fighters now complain that the
government has failed to fulfill its
promises.
In March, MEND detonated two car bombs
near a government building in the Niger
Delta where officials were discussing the
amnesty deal, wounding two people in an
attack heard live on television.
In April 2006, MEND claimed responsibility
for attacks on an army barracks and an oil
refinery during which two people were
killed. It also detonated a car bomb outside
a state governor's office in December
2006.
The attacks Friday come a day after it says
security agencies in South Africa raided
the home of its former leader Henry Okah.
Okah was freed from a Nigerian jail in July
2009 after the nation's attorney general
dropped the treason and gun running
charges he was facing. He later moved to
Johannesburg.
The militant group said Okah's house was
raided after the Nigerian government
"sent a false petition claiming Okah
planned to overthrow the government
and other claims." Police in South Africa
could not confirm any raid took place at
Okah's home.
Nigeria, which has had only a decade of
continuous democracy since it gained its
independence from Britain in 1960, is one
of the top crude oil suppliers to the U.S.
Last year, attacks by militants led to a
sharp drop in oil production, allowing
Angola to replace Nigeria as Africa's No. 1
exporter.