Boko Haram responsible for Lagos blast

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for two explosions on June 25 at a fuel depot in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub.

“A bomb went off in Lagos. I ordered (the bomber) who went and detonated it,” Shekau said, according to the French news agency, which is usually the first to get hold of Shekau’s videos before they are distributed online.

The two blasts minutes apart last month in the country’s main port, Apapa, were almost certainly caused by bombs, three senior security sources and the manager of a major container company told a news agency. One was most likely the work of a female suicide bomber, they said.

Authorities said the blasts on Creek road were an accident caused by a gas canister, but the security sources told the agency that was a coverup meant to avoid panic in the southwestern city of 21 million people. At least two people were killed.