Fear grips Nigeria capital after attack in city centre

A bombing blamed on Boko Haram in the heart of Nigeria's capital raised fears today of a worsening Islamist insurgency, with security forces struggling to prevent attacks in remote villages and near the seat of government.
Yesterday's blast, which killed at least 21 people, shook the crowded Emab Plaza in downtown Abuja during the afternoon rush as shoppers were buying groceries an hour ahead of the country's World Cup match against Argentina.
The explosions struck "a very prominent street and it sends a very loud message", said Nnamdi Obasi, Nigeria researcher at the International Crisis Group. "The message is that everywhere in the city is vulnerable."

Boko Haram's five-year uprising to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands but there were hopes earlier this year that the violence had been contained in the remote northeast, the group's stronghold.
An April 14 bombing at a bus station on the outskirts of the capital and copycat attack at the same spot on May 1 cast doubt on claims that the insurgents had been weakened.
"The security situation in the northeast is very grim and the return of bombings in Abuja really raises questions about how much progress there has been against the insurgency," said Obasi. "It is embarrassing for the government."

Dozens of soldiers and police guarded the Emab Plaza today, with the main road in front closed off, traders denied access to their shops and the burnt out shells of cars littering the blast zone.

Shellshocked shopkeepers and witnesses swapped stories of near misses as they returned to the scene.
"I ran after a customer who was at that gate to give him his phone which he forgot in our shop," said trader Suleiman Mohammed.
"I saw a large crowd of people there. The bomb exploded before I got back to the shop."
Police and the country's National Information Centre said yesterday one suspect had been arrested after the explosion, while another was shot dead by troops as he tried to escape on a motorbike.