United Nations Abuja office bombed: At least 18 dead, more casualties feared

Rescue ... a trapped worker is freed. Photo: AFP/Henry Chukwuedo

No fewer than 18 persons have died after an unidentified suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into the lobby of the three-storey United Nations building in Abuja at 11am today (Friday morning).

The driver of the car was said to have been cleared through the first and second gates of the building, which houses many UN agencies and has over 400 staff, and headed straight for the lobby where he detonated the explosives.

He died in the blast along with many of the people around the place, in what marked the first attack on an international institution in Nigeria in recent times.

There were conflicting reports on whether the attacker drove a Honda or Toyota car.

The Red Cross said 16 persons were believed to have died while about 60 injured persons were rushed to the National Hospital, Abuja.

One of the dead is said to be a white expatriate.

The spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Yushau Shuaibu, confirmed to journalists in an email that the blast was the handiwork of a suicide bomber.

Raw Video: Deadly Blast at UN in Nigeria - The Associated Press
A portion of the damaged building

He said no fewer than five bodies were recovered from the scene while about 20 injured persons had been rushed to the hospital. He also stated that a search was ongoing for more dead and injured persons.

It was learnt that some body bags were brought to the scene of the explosion although policemen prevented journalists from taking photographs.

The UN building is in the same neighbourhood as the United States Embassy and various other diplomatic missions in Area 1, Abuja.

President Goodluck Jonathan is said to have been briefed by security chiefs on the incident.

The National Hospital immediately sent out appeals for blood donations, as its facilities were overstretched by the volume of casualties. Many hospitals in Abuja were also said to have received some of the injured persons.

Abuja residents responded to the National hospital's plea for blood donations by trooping to the complex, where they were tested.

Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF official, who witnessed the explosion, told the Associated Press that the blast came from the lobby and shook the building. He also said he saw many bodies.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reported that a UN official said the Abuja office had recently received a threat of an attack by the outlawed Islamic sect, Boko Haram. The official said as a result, security was enhanced at all UN facilities across Nigeria.

The police anti-bomb squad, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, FCT Administration and emergency rescue workers from NEMA and the Red Cross rushed to the scene immediately. They swiftly embarked on the evacuation of the entire building.

A number of UN vehicles were also destroyed. No group has so far claimed responsibility.

The spokesman of the FCT Police Command, Mr. Moshood Jimoh, confirmed the blast but did not give further details.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 1, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that President Goodluck Jonathan had been informed about the blast. She added that he was 'in shock'.

This is the latest in a series of blasts that have shaken Nigeria's capital, claiming several lives. On October 1, 2010, twin blasts claimed 30 lives and several cars as President Goodluck Jonathan, some world leaders and a large crowd of Nigerians celebrated the nation's 50th independence anniversary at the Eagle Square.

Separate blasts on December 31, 2010 claimed lives at the mammy market of a military barracks in Abuja and a church as Christian faithful marked the end of 2010.

Few hours after the inauguration of President Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo on May 29, 2011, a bomb ripped through a drinking spot at Zuba, on the outskirts of the federal capital, killing 20 people.

On June 14, 2011, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, narrowly escaped death when a bomb exploded at the car park of the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja.

Over the past few months, there have also been bomb attacks in Maiduguri, Katsina, Kaduna as well as Suleja in Niger State, claiming lives and property.

A number of the attacks have been blamed on the outlawed Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

On Thursday, suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked two banks and a police station in Gobi, Adamawa State, killing 12 persons.

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