Bombs kill 25 at Nigerian drinking spot: sources (Reuters)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect threw bombs at a drinking spot in Nigeria's northeastern town of Maiduguri on Sunday, killing around 25 people, witnesses and military sources said.

The attackers -- who the military said were suspected members of the Boko Haram sect -- threw three sets of explosives from the back of motorbikes at around 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) and appeared to be targeting police officers, witnesses said.

"Around 25 people have been killed in a multiple bomb blast in the Dala ward of Maiduguri," a military official said, asking not to be named.

The National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with other rescue teams to evacuate the injured but gave no further details.

Insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria has rapidly replaced militant attacks on oil infrastructure hundreds of kilometres away in the southern Niger Delta as the main security threat in Africa's most populous nation in recent months.

Boko Haram, which says it wants a wider application of strict sharia Islamic law in Nigeria, claimed responsibility for a bomb blast 10 days ago outside the national police headquarters in the capital Abuja.

The sect has been responsible for almost daily killings and attacks on police and government buildings in and around Maiduguri, which lies near Nigeria's remote northeastern borders with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Boko Haram's former leader, self-proclaimed Islamic scholar Mohammed Yusuf, was shot dead in police custody during a 2009 uprising in which hundreds were killed. His mosque was destroyed with tanks and the security forces claimed a decisive victory.

But low-level guerrilla attacks on police stations and assassinations, including of traditional leaders and moderate Islamic clerics, intensified in the second half of last year.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who was sworn in for his first full term in office a month ago, has voiced support for dialogue with Boko Haram.

But the group has an ill-defined command structure, a variety of people claiming to speak on its behalf, and an unknown number of followers. Some security analysts say its supporters number in the thousands.

West African Islam is overwhelmingly moderate and the sect's ideology is not widely supported by Nigeria's Muslim population, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, but poverty and unemployment have helped it build a cult-like following.

(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ )

(Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Nigerian police seek dialogue with radical Islamic sect (AFP)

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Police in northern Nigeria's city of Maiduguri have called on an extremist Islamic sect blamed for a series of deadly attacks to declare a ceasefire and come to a dialogue.

Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for last week's bombing of the national police headquarters in Abuja, has staged most of its gun and bomb attacks in Maiduguri, the capital of north-eastern Borno state.

Borno state police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar issued a statement late Thursday asking "members of the public" in the state to "eschew violence, sectarian killings, vandalism."

Although he did not mention Boko Haram by name, Abubakar confirmed to AFP Friday that "it is a peace overture specifically aimed at members of Boko Haram sect."

"The doors for dialogue and constructive criticism with the (Borno) state government remain open," said the statement.

The attempt at dialogue came a day after Nigerian police chiefs met in Abuja following the June 16 bomb attack on the police headquarters.

The sect said the attack was in response to national police chief Hafiz Ringim's remarks that "the days of Boko Haram are numbered".

Newly-elected Borno state governor Kashim Shettima has offered an amnesty to sect members who choose to lay down arms, an overture that won the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Boko Haram had said it was ready to cease fire and enter into talks with the government, setting conditions which included the strict application of Sharia law in 12 predominately Muslim northern states.

But it later recanted, citing Ringim's statement

The sect has been behind a wave of attacks in Maiduguri targeting police and military personnel, community and religious leaders, and politicians.

It has also claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on police stations, churches and a prison.

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Nigerian police chiefs to meet over Abuja bomb attack (AFP)

LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria's top police chiefs will meet in the nation's capital on Tuesday over a deadly blast that killed at least two people, including the alleged suicide bomber, a spokesman said Monday.

"The Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim, has called for a crucial meeting with all the commissioners of police from the 36 states and the federal capital territory, Abuja over the incident," Olusola Amore told AFP.

He said that police authorities would make public the outcome of the investigation into Thursday's bombing at the forces' national headquarters in Abuja that left a policeman and the suspected bomber dead.

Local media said up to eight people were killed in the blast at the police car park that also wounded several other people and damaged many vehicles.

Amore said no arrest had been made.

The attack was claimed by the radical Islamist Boko Haram sect which has been blamed for series of deadly attacks particularly in the north of the country in recent months.

The sect said Ringim was the target of the attack as he had made an offensive statement about the group.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sin", launched an uprising in 2009 which was put down by a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead.

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Wayne State grad, Nigerian mom reunite after years apart

DETROIT — As her son was introduced to those attending Wayne State University's graduation, Mary Chukwueke wore a broad, proud smile across her face.

Victor Chukwueke of Oak Park, Mich., participates in a fundraiser to bring his mother and sister from Nigeria to his college graduation.

It was a picture she couldn't have imagined a decade ago, when she sent him away in search of a medical miracle for him.

As he stood at the podium Thursday, Victor Chukwueke, 25, stood still, gathering himself. "My presence here shows anything is possible," he said. After a 4-minute speech, the large crowd stood and clapped for 30 seconds, the only standing ovation of the evening.

In the past 10 years, Chukwueke has overcome obstacles to achieve at a high level.

He underwent six surgeries to remove large tumors on his head and face. But he also earned his GED and then a college degree in chemistry. He graduated with honors Thursday. He's now headed for medical school.

But the most emotional moment came hours before the ceremony, when his mother walked off a plane here, and they saw each other for the first time in a decade.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to see her ever again," he said. "Words cannot express how I feel."

They hugged for 5 minutes in the baggage claim area , trying to erase a decade of separation in the emotional moment.

"Don't cry," she told him in their native Nigerian tribal language, said a nun translating for the news media. "I am your mother, and you are my son."

The reunion came years after his mother agreed to send him away with missionary nuns.

Then 15, he had large tumors growing on the top of his head and side of his face. A nun arranged for a Southfield, Mich., surgeon to operate for free.

Victor Chukwueke's journey and educational achievements inspired those around him so much, he was asked to speak at his Wayne State University commencement Thursday evening. His mother was sitting in the audience for the speech, after clearing last-minute financial and visa hurdles with help from the school, a U.S. senator and a millionaire businessman. She'll stay for 11 days to visit with her son.

Chukwueke told the graduates Thursday night that they could overcome any challenges in their lives if they just have the right attitude. He said he faced the question of how he could move forward before the surgeries.

"Should I call myself a victim, or should I press forward to my dreams?" he said, interrupted once with a loud ovation. "Strive to be all you can be. ? My presence here shows anything is possible."

He also took time to thank those who helped him. "Only in this country could something this wonderful happen to someone like me," he said.

Chukwueke has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumor growth in the nervous system. Experts say they believe mutations in genes that suppress cell growth are to blame. An estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. have it, according to the National Institutes of Heath.

His case is extreme. Doctors in Nigeria told the family, impoverished and living in a rural village, that there was nothing that could be done for him. He was ashamed to show his face outside, fearing the taunts that always followed. Missionary nuns offered hope and arranged for him to come to America.

Over time, Chukwueke underwent six major surgeries to remove the tumors -- a process that still isn't complete. He's facing another surgery this summer . While recovering in the Detroit area in a house with nuns, he worked to get his GED. He attended community college, transferred to Wayne State and worked on his degree in chemistry. Those who know him credit him for hard work.

"He is someone who overcame so much," said Kenneth Hohn, a professor of pathology who nominated him to speak at the commencement. Chukwueke works in Hohn's lab.

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