Men on motorcycles targeted drinkers relaxing in private beer gardens in the
majority Muslim town of Maiduguri, throwing grenades or improvised
explosives into at least two bars, a police source said.
"There were men on the back of motorbikes who drove past and attacked,
before roaring off," the official said at the police headquarters in
Kano, northern Nigeria's
main city.
"Two pubs were hit, maybe more. Many people have been killed, 25 people
at least." Another 30 were wounded, according to reports.
Suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram, a formerly obscure militant group
who have in the past demanded an absolute adherence to Islamic sharia law in
Nigeria's north.
The organisation - whose name translates as "modern education is
forbidden" - carried out a suicide bomb attack on Nigeria's national
police headquarters in Abuja, the capital, with agents trained by
al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Somalia.
That raid, a fortnight ago, killed 22 people. Last year, Boko Haram targeted
Nigerians celebrating the country's independence day celebrations, and it
was behind a series of other attacks on police and army barracks.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's attacks, but if Boko
Haram planned them, it would be the first time it singled out people
contravening Muslim laws.
Drinking alcohol is illegal in most places in northern Nigeria, where
provinces are ruled according to a mixture of secular federal legislation,
and local Islamic rules.
But many small pubs are allowed to operate, with authorities turning a blind
eye.
