Abuja Blast: Obama Urges FG To Fish Out Perpetrators

By ABIODUN OLUWAROTIMI, New York — April 15, 2014 United States president, Mr. Barrack Obama and the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, have called on the federal government to urgently conduct a full investigation into Monday’s bomb blast which reportedly claimed some lives and properties at Nyanya motor park, Abuja. Reacting in a statement made available at the early hours of Tuesday by Jen Psaki, a spokesperson of the Department of State, Mr. Obama condemned the attack which killed over 70 people, stressing that his administration was outraged by these ‘senseless’ acts of violence against innocent civilians in Nigeria. The US leader also condemned the attacks in three villages in Borno State that took the lives of nearly 100 people over the weekend just as he encouraged the government of Nigeria to conduct a full investigation to identify and bring justice to the perpetrators of these attacks. “We continue to stand with the Nigerian Government and people as they grapple with violent extremism. The Nigerian president has blamed Boko Haram for the incident, the bombing in Abuja, and we have seen that, but to our knowledge, no group has claimed responsibility yet. We continue to work closely with the Nigerian government and its neighbours to address the growing threat of Boko Haram in a comprehensive manner. But again, it’s, in our view, preliminary to make that judgment,” said Obama in the statement. In his own reaction, United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who voiced out his shock and sadness after a bomb attack at a bus station near the Nigerian capital of Abuja claimed dozens of lives also called on the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to urgently for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Saying that he was shocked and saddened by the many lives that were lost on Monday, Ban Ki-moon added that the United Nations would throw its weight behind the federal government to curb insecurity in Nigeria. He also strongly condemned all indiscriminate killings and acts of violent extremism in the northern parts of Nigeria, stressing that the perpetrators of this attack, and those responsible for the continuing brutal attacks must be brought to justice. Also, members of the United Nations Security Council led by the council’s rotational president, Professor Joy U. Ogwu, also strongly condemned the multiple terrorist attacks committed by Boko Haram that occurred in Nigeria on 13 and 14 April, causing numerous deaths and injuries.