Thursday, June 12, 2014

Bomb threats in Adamawa, Nigeria: Authorities ban all World Cup public viewing centers


Authorities in north-eastern state of Adamawa, Nigeria have ordered the close of all venues planning to screen the coverage of the World Cup across the state. 
The authorities claimed to have received  intelligence of planned bomb attacks during the competition, which opens in Brazil on Thursday.
Adamawa is one of the states badly affected by Islamist violence.
Open-air viewing centers - where people pay to watch live football - are popular throughout Nigeria.
"Our action is not to stop Nigerians... watching the World Cup. It is to protect their lives," Brig-Gen Nicholas Rogers was quoted by the AFP agency as saying on Wednesday in Yola, the capital of Adamawa.
The state has often been targeted by Boko Haram Islamist militants.
Last week suspected Boko Haram militants set off a car bomb that killed 18 people watching a match on television at a center in Adamawa.
In both east and west Africa, experts say militant groups see the popular public viewings combining football and alcohol as a prime demonstration of “corrupting” Western influence.





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