The Wall Street Journal reports: “A rush-hour bomb blast on Monday at a bus station on the outskirts of Abuja killed at least 71 people, an attack that is likely to raise fresh concerns about security in the Nigerian capital as it prepares to play host to a meeting of leading international investors, entrepreneurs and politicians.”

JAMES E. JENNINGS, jimjennings@earthlink.net,
Jennings is president of Conscience International and executive director of U.S. Academics for Peace. He said today, “With the April 14 blast in Abuja that killed 71 civilians, Nigeria’s war with Boko Haram terrorists is obviously heating up. It appears that, following President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent order for 5,000 troops to move into the area with large numbers of checkpoints, Boko Haram has shifted its attacks to the capital of Abuja.

“Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with the largest economy and two insurgency movements. Although the long-running insurgency in the northeast has been neglected by most Western media, three states there have become incredibly vicious killing fields.

“A Conscience International medical team was in Nigeria during an attack on March 25 that killed 70 unarmed villagers in Borno and Benue. That massacre followed an earlier attack on three villages in Kaduna March 14 that left 119 dead and 250 houses burned. After interviewing wounded victims of some of the attacks, our response is to increase medical aid and begin building houses for some of the thousands of displaced villagers.”