A teenager blew herself up near a mosque on Monday night in an apparent suicide attack attempt in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city, police said.
Police spokesman Magaji Majiya said the girl's target was likely the Umar Ibn Al-Khattab mosque and that she was the only casualty.
The attempted attack bore the hallmarks of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, that was behind a wave of violence last week that killed 200 people. On Sunday, at least 44 people died in two attacks in the central city of Jos.
Kano has not been attacked since February this year when two suicide bombers struck a bus station killing at least 10 people.
On Monday in Kano, two witnesses said they saw the girl crossing a road before they heard a loud bang.
Boko Haram has been waging an insurgency since 2009 to establish a state in Nigeria's northeast adhering to strict sharia law. Boko Haram took over large swathes of territory last year but have since been repelled from most parts by Nigerian forces with the help of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
Reuters
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Another Bitcoin service BitX launches in Nigeria
The announcement comes roughly six months after the emerging markets-focused bitcoin services provider launched in Indonesia. Both countries had been on BitX's list of planned markets since April 2014.
BitX CEO Marcus Swanepoel expressed his optimism that Nigeria would soon become one of the company's leading markets due to its "fast-growing" and "highly entrepreneurial economy".
Swanepoel said:
"We’ve been inundated with requests for bitcoin products and services from consumers, developers and Nigerian businesses. The business aspect is particularly interesting and we’re currently working with a number of these businesses to bring some exciting new products to the market."
Nigeria notably became the largest economy in Africa in April 2013, surpassing South Africa with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $509.9bn compared to South Africa's $350.6bn. However, with a population of 170 million (compared to South Africa's 52.98 million), economists have argued the country's economy is still underperforming.
One factor that may hold back the utility of bitcoin, though, is the relative lack of smartphone penetration, which mobile operator interest group the GSM Association estimates at just 10-15% of mobile subscribers.
The announcement will nonetheless find BitX joining ICE3x as the latest exchange to try and galvanize bitcoin user interest in the Nigerian market.
ICE3x launched its services in January and now offers an order-book exchange that allows Nigerian naira to be exchanged for digital currencies such as bitcoin and litecoin.
Coindesk
Related stories: Bitcoin interest grows in Nigeria
Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria
Local Bitcoin Remittance service Bitstake launches in Nigeria
Monday, July 6, 2015
Video - Council want former Finance Minister Okonjo Iweala investigated
A war of words is currently brewing in Nigeria between the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the country's former Finance Minister, and it's all about money from the the excess crude account.
Nigeria Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi sacked
The statement issued by the NFF said it had reviewed Keshi's "actions and inactions" and found he lacked "the required commitment to achieve the federation's objectives as set out in the coach's employment contract."
It added it had "decided to exercise its option to summarily terminate the employment contract of Mr. Stephen Keshi with the federation with immediate effect".
An NFF disciplinary committee headed by Chris Green has been investigating allegations that Keshi applied to coach Ivory Coast while under contract with Nigeria.
Keshi, 53, took over the national side in 2011 and led them to a long-awaited third African title two years later.
The charismatic coach then quit the day after their 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the final, only to change his mind a day later.
The same thing happened after the World Cup last year when he quit and was then reinstated before threatening to leave again last October after a poor run of results as they failed to qualify for this year's African Cup of Nations.
Keshi is the only African coach to qualify two African teams for the World Cup finals -- Togo in 2006, as well as Nigeria. He played 64 times for his country and spent the peak years of his playing career in Belgium in the 1980s and 1990s.
Times Live
Two bomb attacks leaves many dead in Jos, Nigeria
Two bomb attacks on the central Nigerian city of Jos have left at least 44 people dead, the authorities say.
A restaurant and a mosque were targeted on Sunday night.
No-one has claimed responsibility but militant group Boko Haram has attacked Jos before, even though it is not in north-east Nigeria where the Islamists normally operate.
The blasts are the latest in a series of deadly attacks in recent days which have seen more than 200 people killed.
The attacks came shortly after the Ramadan fast was broken, with both sites full of people.
Of the 44 dead, 23 were killed at the restaurant and 21 at the mosque, Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) says.
There are also 47 people being treated for injuries, but emergency officials are still gathering information, so the figures may rise.
The blast at the restaurant was caused by a bomb that had been planted, whereas the mosque was attacked by a suicide bomber and that explosion was preceded by gunfire, the BBC's Ishaq Khalid reports.
Our correspondent says that many believe that the mosque's imam, who was preaching at the time, may have been the target.
Sheikh Muhammad Sani Yahya Jingir, who survived the attack, is known for preaching against Boko Haram and has written a book, which criticises the group, called Boko Halal (Western education is permitted - Boko Haram means Western education is forbidden).
He has survived a previous assassination attempt at his home and is seen as one of the most influential clerics in Nigeria.
Why the upsurge in attacks? Will Ross, BBC News, Nigeria
It is not unusual for there to be a heightened risk of jihadist attacks during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Boko Haram may be trying to deepen its ties with the jihadists fighting in Iraq and Syria who had called for "a month of disasters for the infidels".
Many of the recent attacks have been by suicide bombers - often young women.
Where the bombs are being made and where the bombers are being brainwashed is unclear but the Nigerian intelligence and security services need to do far more to stop the bloodshed.
Once again the range of targets is alarming and on this latest bloody Sunday a church and a mosque were bombed within hours of each other.
Jos has seen several attacks blamed on Boko Haram, including an incident in February when at least 15 died and in December last year when more than 30 people died.
The city has in the past seen clashes between Muslim and Christian communities and some have suggested that Boko Haram is looking to exploit these fault-lines.
On Friday, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari described the recent attacks as "inhuman and barbaric".
In power now for just over a month, the president was elected on the pledge to defeat Boko Haram.
He said they were "the last desperate acts of fleeing agents of terrorism".
Boko Haram took control of a large area of north-eastern Nigeria last year and declared a caliphate - a state governed in accordance with Islamic law.
However, Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory.
President Buhari has called for an expanded regional force to be deployed more rapidly.
BBC
A restaurant and a mosque were targeted on Sunday night.
No-one has claimed responsibility but militant group Boko Haram has attacked Jos before, even though it is not in north-east Nigeria where the Islamists normally operate.
The blasts are the latest in a series of deadly attacks in recent days which have seen more than 200 people killed.
The attacks came shortly after the Ramadan fast was broken, with both sites full of people.
Of the 44 dead, 23 were killed at the restaurant and 21 at the mosque, Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) says.
There are also 47 people being treated for injuries, but emergency officials are still gathering information, so the figures may rise.
The blast at the restaurant was caused by a bomb that had been planted, whereas the mosque was attacked by a suicide bomber and that explosion was preceded by gunfire, the BBC's Ishaq Khalid reports.
Our correspondent says that many believe that the mosque's imam, who was preaching at the time, may have been the target.
Sheikh Muhammad Sani Yahya Jingir, who survived the attack, is known for preaching against Boko Haram and has written a book, which criticises the group, called Boko Halal (Western education is permitted - Boko Haram means Western education is forbidden).
He has survived a previous assassination attempt at his home and is seen as one of the most influential clerics in Nigeria.
Why the upsurge in attacks? Will Ross, BBC News, Nigeria
It is not unusual for there to be a heightened risk of jihadist attacks during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Boko Haram may be trying to deepen its ties with the jihadists fighting in Iraq and Syria who had called for "a month of disasters for the infidels".
Many of the recent attacks have been by suicide bombers - often young women.
Where the bombs are being made and where the bombers are being brainwashed is unclear but the Nigerian intelligence and security services need to do far more to stop the bloodshed.
Once again the range of targets is alarming and on this latest bloody Sunday a church and a mosque were bombed within hours of each other.
Jos has seen several attacks blamed on Boko Haram, including an incident in February when at least 15 died and in December last year when more than 30 people died.
The city has in the past seen clashes between Muslim and Christian communities and some have suggested that Boko Haram is looking to exploit these fault-lines.
On Friday, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari described the recent attacks as "inhuman and barbaric".
In power now for just over a month, the president was elected on the pledge to defeat Boko Haram.
He said they were "the last desperate acts of fleeing agents of terrorism".
Boko Haram took control of a large area of north-eastern Nigeria last year and declared a caliphate - a state governed in accordance with Islamic law.
However, Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory.
President Buhari has called for an expanded regional force to be deployed more rapidly.
BBC
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