April 21, 2014 - With little to celebrate, Nigerians marked Easter Sunday with heightened
security against a spreading Islamic uprising, mourning the deaths of at least 75
bomb blast victims and fearful of the fate of 85 abducted schoolgirls. The homegrown
terrorist network Boko Haram on Saturday claimed responsibility for last week's rush-hour
explosion at a busy bus station in the capital, Abuja, and threatened more attacks.
``We are the bombers ... yes we are the bombers; if you really want to know who did
it, let me tell you now, it was Shekau that did it,'' Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
boasted in a new video. He taunted Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan to try and
get him saying he is in Abuja.
Nigeria's military twice have claimed that
Shekau was dead, only to have him resurface in a video. The United States has placed
a $7 million ransom on his head. At church services around the country, Nigerians
mourned victims of four attacks in three days last week. At the Vatican, Pope Francis
prayed for a halt to the ``brutal terrorist attacks'' in parts of Nigeria. (Source:
AP)