Two blasts, which also destroyed three cars, came an hour after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Nigeria’s biggest rebel militia, warned it had planted several bombs and told people to evacuate the area.

A Reuters cameraman said security forces and firemen in the capital, Abuja, had been trying to douse a fire in a car after the first explosion when a second blast hit, about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the parade ground where hundreds of local and foreign dignitaries sat.

“Two car bombs exploded and eight people are confirmed dead,” Abuja police spokesman Jimoh Moshood told Reuters.

The lavish celebrations with army bands, dancing children and air force displays continued although President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election early next year, left in an armoured limousine without making a scheduled national address.

Earlier, Jonathan, dressed in his traditional black fedora hat and dark suit, had inspected ranks of soldiers from the back of an open-top jeep.

MEND has been fighting for years for a greater share of oil revenues from the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry.

Although most of its activities have been focused on the creeks and swamps of the delta, MEND has struck further afield, including at off-shore oil installations and in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

“Several explosive devices have been successfully planted in and around the venue by our operatives working inside the government security services,” the warning email, signed by MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo, said.

“In evacuating the area, keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins.”

“WASTED GENERATION”

Besides overshadowing the 50th birthday of Africa’s most populous nation, the bombs will deal another blow to an already a shaky amnesty brokered last year with rebels in the Delta.

Nigeria’s oil production has climbed from about 1.6 million barrels per day before the amnesty to around 2 million now, as oil companies have been able to repair sabotaged pipelines and supply terminals.

A return to violence would be likely to reverse that process, with implications for Nigeria’s economic growth.

Jonathan is from the Niger Delta area, and many analysts thought his accession to the presidency earlier this year after the death of president Umaru Yar’Adua would have eased tensions between rebels and central government.

“A very sad and unwelcome development, when a small group of people from the same region as the President carry out such attacks on Nigeria’s special day,” said one Nigerian security expert, who did not wish to be named.

“These people do not reflect the wider feelings of Niger Deltans and such acts can only be fully condemned.”

Despite the official pomp, the 50-year landmark has caused considerable introspection among Nigeria’s 140 million people, many of whom regard the period since the end of British rule in 1960 as a half-century of broken dreams.

As well as a succession of brutal and economically disastrous military dictatorships and the squandering of billions of dollars in oil revenues, Nigeria suffered a civil war in the late 1960s in which a million people died.

“Leadership has failed the nation again and again and again,” said author Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, describing the post-colonial era as a “wasted generation”.

“It has been backwards steps — one step forwards and then ten back.”

Despite the gloom, others feel that, after 10 years of unbroken civilian rule, Nigeria is on the cusp of a major revival, supported by high oil prices, a flood of foreign investment and gradual liberalisation of its economy.

(Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh and Nick Tattersall, writing by Ed Cropley; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Two explosions, which also destroyed three cars, came an hour after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Nigeria’s biggest rebel militia, issued an email warning saying it had planted several bombs and telling people to evacuate the area.

A Reuters cameraman said security forces and firemen in the capital, Abuja, had been trying to douse a fire in a car after the first explosion when a second blast hit.

“Two car bombs exploded and eight people are confirmed dead,” Abuja police spokesman Jimoh Moshood told Reuters.

The lavish celebrations of military bands, troupes of dancing children and air force displays continued as planned.

Given its warning, the finger of blame will rest heavily on MEND, which has been fighting for years for a greater share of oil revenues from the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry.

Although most of its activities have been focussed on the creeks and swamps of the delta, MEND has struck further afield, including at off-shore oil installations and in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

“Several explosive devices have been successfully planted in and around the venue by our operatives working inside the government security services,” the warning email, signed by MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo, said.

“In evacuating the area, keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins.”

“WASTED GENERATION”

Broadcast television footage showed no interruption to the 50th birthday celebrations.

Shortly after the warning, President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election early next year, arrived in an armoured limousine dressed in his traditional black fedora hat and dark suit, before inspecting ranks of soldiers from an open-top jeep.

Jonathan is from the Niger Delta area, and many analysts thought his accession to the presidency earlier this year after the death of president Umaru Yar’Adua would have eased tensions between rebels and central government.

Despite the official pomp, the 50-year landmark has caused considerable introspection among Nigeria’s 140 million people, many of whom regard the period since the end of British rule in 1960 as a half-century of broken dreams.

As well as a succession of brutal and economically disastrous military dictatorships and the squandering of billions of dollars in oil revenues, Nigeria suffered a civil war in the late 1960s in which a million people died.

“Leadership has failed the nation again and again and again,” said author Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, describing the post-colonial era as a “wasted generation.”

“It has been backwards steps — one step forwards and then ten back.”

Despite the gloom, others feel that after 10 years of unbroken civilian rule, Nigeria is on the cusp of a major revival, supported by high oil prices, a flood of foreign investment and gradual liberalisation of its economy.

(Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh, Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Giles Elgood)

The blasts came about an hour after Nigeria’s MEND rebel guerrilla group issued an email bomb warning, saying it had planted several devices at the parade and telling people to evacuate.

The Reuters cameraman said security forces and firemen had been trying to douse a fire in a vehicle after the first explosion when a second blast hit. People scattered and a young boy was seen being carried away to a nearby vehicle.

In an email warning received by Reuters an hour before the blasts, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the biggest rebel militia in Africa’s most populous nation, said it had planted bombs at the parade ground.

“Several explosive devices have been successfully planted in and around the venue by our operatives working inside the government security services,” the email, signed by MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo, said.

“In evacuating the area, keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins.”

Broadcast television footage showed no interruptions to the lavish parade of thousands of soldiers and the great and the good of the continent’s biggest oil producer.

President Goodluck Jonathan arrived in an armored limousine dressed in his traditional black fedora hat and dark suit, before inspecting massed ranks of soldiers from an open-top jeep.

Jonathan is from the Niger Delta area, and many analysts thought his accession to the presidency earlier this year after the death of president Umaru Yar’Adua would have eased tensions between rebels and central government.

MEND is Nigeria’s biggest militant group and has fought for years to obtain a greater share of federal oil revenues for the impoverished Niger Delta.

Although most of its activities have been focused on the creeks and swamps of the delta, it has struck further afield, including at off-shore oil installations and in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

MEND guerrillas agreed an amnesty with the military last year although analysts say only a fraction of the rebels’ weapons were handed in.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Goodluck Jonathan, who has been empowered by a federal court to perform executive duties in the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, ordered the army to take over security in and around Jos after days of clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs.

“I have today ordered the army to lead the security forces to take over the entire security of the affected areas, including those areas that are considered prone to risk,” he said in a speech broadcast on state television.

It was Jonathan’s first national address since a court ruled last week he could perform all executive duties in the absence of Yar’Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for the past two months but who has not formally transferred powers.

But the court said Jonathan could not be “acting president” and the opposition has questioned whether he is legally able to deploy troops, saying the constitution gives only the president that authority as commander-in-chief.

The vice president used executive powers for the first time earlier this week when he ordered troops into Jos to help police restore order.

“Let me assure all that the federal government is on top of the situation and that the crisis is being brought under control,” Jonathan said.

RELAXED CURFEW

Nigerian authorities relaxed a 24-hour curfew in Jos earlier on Thursday to allow thousands of residents to return to their homes.

The strong presence of troops and police has helped restore calm in the capital of Plateau state with no reports of major violence for nearly a day.

Four days of sectarian clashes this week killed more than 460 in and around the city, which lies in the center of Africa’s most populous nation.

The Red Cross estimated 17,000 people have been displaced and took shelter in colleges, hospitals and schools since clashes began on Sunday.

“There are so many people that need clothing, food and water. The Red Cross is focusing on those injured and referring some to hospital,” an agency spokesman said, adding that about 990 have been hospitalized.

The clashes have not had an impact on sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest economy. Its oil industry is in the south and the banks mainly in the commercial capital Lagos.

“Most emphasis is on the health of the banks and the president and the renewed violence is not expected to have significant macroeconomic effect,” said Richard Segal, analyst at Knight Libertas.

The relative calm has allowed some businesses to reopen and families to reunite, but the city remained tense with hundreds of soldiers and police patrolling the streets.

“I have come to pick up my children who ran into the camps with my mother. Now that normalcy is returning, I feel safe to see them,” said Tunde Oyalemi, a Jos resident.

Mosque officials were also free to travel to nearby communities and bury the dead.

“We are preparing to bury them now as the violence has stopped and we have the manpower to do it,” said Muhammed Tanko Shittu, a senior mosque official organizing mass burials.

Mosque officials have estimated the number of dead Muslims since Sunday at about 400. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said at least 65 Christians had died.

Official government figures were significantly lower at 75 dead, more than 200 injured and 200 arrested.

(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja, Carolyn Cohn in London; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Hundreds of soldiers and police were stationed throughout Plateau state’s capital city in central Nigeria to enforce a 24-hour curfew, which has left many streets deserted and businesses closed.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said 151 bodies had been taken to the city’s mosque for burial since the violence started on Sunday, while the number of Christian dead was put at 65.

“The fighting has stopped in Jos, but we can hear gunshots in other communities in the outskirts of the city. We are expecting more corpses to be brought in from surrounding communities later today,” said Muhammad Tanko Shittu, a senior mosque official organizing mass burials, who estimated the death toll among Muslims at 155.

The official police figures were significantly lower with 20 people dead, 40 injured and 168 arrested since Sunday.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, in his first use of executive power, ordered troops to Jos on Tuesday to restore calm and prevent a repetition of clashes in November 2008, when hundreds of residents were killed in the country’s worst sectarian fighting in years.

It was not clear whether President Umaru Yar’Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for nearly two months, had been briefed on the situation.

This week’s violence erupted after an argument between Muslim and Christian neighbors over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes.

The fighting is unlikely to have a big impact on sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest economy. Its oil industry is in the south and its banking sector mainly in the commercial capital Lagos.

Burned BODIES

A Reuters correspondent saw three burned bodies lying on the streets in Jos and several buildings and cars destroyed by fire. Armoured vehicles and soldiers patrolled the city, while residents ventured outside with their arms held up to signal they were unarmed.

The city’s main hospital, Jos University Teaching Hospital, treated about 50 patients on Tuesday and was forced to turn away others. Two died from their injuries. “Ninety percent of the casualties were from gunshot injuries with a few from knives and bows and arrows,” said Dr. Dabit Joseph, who works at Jos University Teaching Hospital.

The Red Cross has 40 staff workers and several volunteers at seven centres in Jos to help thousands of displaced residents, an agency spokesman said.

Residents said most people were staying indoors because of rumors that some gangs were dressed up in fake military and police uniforms.

“Government has received with concern reports of men in fake security uniforms attacking unsuspecting citizens. Measures are being put in place to tackle this issue,” Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang said late Tuesday.

Nigeria has roughly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, although traditional animist beliefs underpin many people’s faiths.

More than 200 ethnic groups generally live peacefully side-by-side in the West African country, although 1 million people were killed in a civil war between 1967 and 1970 and there have been outbreaks of religious unrest since then.

Jos has been the center of several major religious clashes in Africa’s most populous nation.

The November 2008 clashes killed around 700 people, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, while more than 1,000 Jos residents died in similar fighting in September 2001.

(Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Giles Elgood)