Nigerians mark Easter amid mourning and fear

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)