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| 42 Are Killed in Bombings Aimed at Nigerian Figures | 42 Are Killed in Bombings Aimed at Nigerian Figures |
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| DAKAR, Senegal — Bombs targeting two prominent Nigerians, a cleric and a leading politician, exploded in the northern city of Kaduna on Wednesday, killing at least 42 people but missing the intended victims, officials said. | DAKAR, Senegal — Bombs targeting two prominent Nigerians, a cleric and a leading politician, exploded in the northern city of Kaduna on Wednesday, killing at least 42 people but missing the intended victims, officials said. |
| Both Sheik Dahiru Bauchi and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler of Nigeria, have recently been critical of the violent Islamist sect Boko Haram and suspicion immediately fell on that group. | |
| Boko Haram’s bloody five-year insurgency has been gathering in intensity — significant portions of the country’s far northeast are now effectively under its control — but Wednesday’s bombings represented something of a departure in the sect’s campaign to undermine the Nigerian state. | Boko Haram’s bloody five-year insurgency has been gathering in intensity — significant portions of the country’s far northeast are now effectively under its control — but Wednesday’s bombings represented something of a departure in the sect’s campaign to undermine the Nigerian state. |
| Kaduna is a major city of more than one million people. And Mr. Buhari, the leading figure in the main opposition party, and Mr. Bauchi each have millions of followers in the populous north. If either had been killed, the shock and anger likely to have followed would have been a major challenge for the already shaky government of President Goodluck Jonathan. | |
| “The fact that these two personalities survived, it could have been much worse,” said Shehu Sani, a resident of Kaduna who is also a leading Nigerian social critic, writer and activist. “If they had been killed, it would have resulted in serious civil unrest,” Mr. Sani added. As it was, the bombs killed many innocent bystanders — street vendors and passers-by. | |
| “Some of those killed were traders selling fruits who patronized the neighborhood,” Mr. Sani said. His own house, in a leafy neighborhood where many prominent citizens live, was shaken by the first blast, which was aimed at Mr. Bauchi, the cleric. | “Some of those killed were traders selling fruits who patronized the neighborhood,” Mr. Sani said. His own house, in a leafy neighborhood where many prominent citizens live, was shaken by the first blast, which was aimed at Mr. Bauchi, the cleric. |
| Supporters were gathering in a central square to hear him preach a sermon marking the end of Ramadan when the bomb, which officials said had been planted, exploded. Mr. Bauchi had not yet arrived, but at least 25 people were killed and dozens more injured. He had recently described Boko Haram as un-Islamic; an attempt on his life was also made at his home some three weeks ago. “He was highly critical of the group,” Mr. Sani said. “He even said their acts were not Islamic.” | Supporters were gathering in a central square to hear him preach a sermon marking the end of Ramadan when the bomb, which officials said had been planted, exploded. Mr. Bauchi had not yet arrived, but at least 25 people were killed and dozens more injured. He had recently described Boko Haram as un-Islamic; an attempt on his life was also made at his home some three weeks ago. “He was highly critical of the group,” Mr. Sani said. “He even said their acts were not Islamic.” |
| Mr. Buhari, who ruled Nigeria with an iron hand in the early 1980s and was later deposed in a coup, has since made a comeback as the leading opponent to Mr. Jonathan and is likely to be a candidate against him in next year’s election. He was passing through Kaduna when a suicide bomber drove a vehicle into his convoy. Mr. Buhari survived, but at least 17 were killed in that attack. Mr. Buhari has recently published writings critical of Boko Haram, and the sect has issued threats against him. | |
| By striking at two leading figures in Nigerian public life, Boko Haram has shown its capacity to reach beyond its narrow base in the northeast and inject itself — violently — into the center of the country’s national discourse. Yet until now, a series of random bombings in Abuja, the capital, have been virtually the only examples of that sort of escalation. | |
| The kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, near Boko Haram’s northeastern base, unexpectedly became a national, then an international issue. Initially, though, in April, it was treated by both the country’s news media and politicians as just one more in an endless string of cruel depredations by the group in the country’s remote and battered north. | The kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, near Boko Haram’s northeastern base, unexpectedly became a national, then an international issue. Initially, though, in April, it was treated by both the country’s news media and politicians as just one more in an endless string of cruel depredations by the group in the country’s remote and battered north. |
| In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Jonathan denounced “the dastardly targeting of the prominent political and religious leaders by terrorists and enemies of the nation in an odious attempt to inflame passions.” | In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Jonathan denounced “the dastardly targeting of the prominent political and religious leaders by terrorists and enemies of the nation in an odious attempt to inflame passions.” |