(BBC) — The BBC’s Komla Dumor says people in Abuja have been shaken by the attacks. At least eight people have been killed in explosions in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, marring celebrations to mark 50 years since independence from the UK. Police have confirmed that two blasts outside the justice ministry were caused by car bombs. Earlier, the militant group Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) had threatened to target the festivities. Nigeria is a major oil producer, yet most of the population live in poverty. The bombs went off not far from Eagle Square, where the Nigerian elite had gathered for the official celebrations, but no-one there was hurt. President Goodluck Jonathan, who was inspecting a guard of honour at the time, called it a “wicked act of desperation by criminals and murderers”.
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