Yahoo – AFP,
3 May 2014
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| President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria arrives on March 22, 2014 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AFP Photo/Phil Nijhuis) |
Lagos (AFP)
- Troops deployed Saturday to Nigeria's main airports in a security clampdown
ahead of a major international economic conference next week in Abuja after two
bomb blasts left scores dead in the capital.
Armed
troops have been deployed to the departure and arrival gates of both Abuja's
international airport and that of the economic capital Lagos, sources told AFP.
In Lagos,
cars may no longer drop passengers off outside the airport terminal but in
front of a church some 200 metres (yards) where they must take a shuttle.
The
measures are in addition to precautions announced earlier ahead of the
three-day World Economic Forum on Africa, dubbed the "African Davos",
beginning Wednesday, which Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is due to attend.
Two deadly
car bomb attacks some two and a half weeks apart in an Abuja suburb blamed on
the Islamist sect Boko Haram sparked the security concerns over the WEF,
described as the most prestigious international event to come to Abuja.
April 14 in
Abuja's Nyanya suburb saw the capital's deadliest attack ever, when 75 people
were killed, and the second was a stone's throw away, considered a
"copy-cat" attack and claiming 19 lives on Thursday.
Also on April
14, suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped scores of schoolgirls in northeastern
Nigeria, the main theatre of their insurgency that has killed thousands since
2009.
The US
consulate in Lagos warned in an advisory on Friday that "groups associated
with terrorism" could be planning to attack a luxury hotel in Lagos.
The WEF
said in a statement that its security arrangements for the conference, to be
held at a top Abuja hotel, were "robust".
"There
are no plans to make any changes to the programme or content of the
meeting," it said, offering sympathy for the victims of the attacks.
Nigeria,
however, announced that all government offices and schools would be shut during
the conference, while local organisers have said more than 6,000 police and
soldiers would be deployed to ensure delegates' safety.
"Our
security planning for the World Economic Forum on Africa is already well under
way and will be the largest security operation ever mounted in this country for
an international summit," they said.
'Unconscionable
crime'
US
Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday vowed that Washington would do
"everything possible" to help Nigeria deal with the abduction of the
schoolgirls, who number 223, according to the latest police figure.
"Let
me be clear. The kidnapping of hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an
unconscionable crime," Kerry said in a policy speech in the Ethiopian
capital Addis Ababa.
"We
will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these
young women to their homes and hold the perpetrators to justice. That is our
responsibility and the world's responsibility," he said.
The United
States, he added, is "working to strengthen Nigeria's institutions and its
military to combat Boko Haram's campaign of terror and violence".
The mass
kidnapping is one of the most shocking attacks in Boko Haram's five-year
extremist uprising, which has killed thousands across the north and centre of
the country, including 1,500 people this year alone.
The twin
car bombings in Abuja have fuelled fears that the Islamist group may be
shifting its focus outside of its historic base in Nigeria's remote northeast.
Related Article:
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Women hold a demonstration in Abuja over the mass abduction of schoolgirls
by Nigerian militants Boko Haram. Photograph: Gbemiga Olamikan/AP
|
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