President Jonathan visit to the site of EMAB bomb blast in Abuja on Friday
PHOTO: FaceBook  page of Presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati

ABUJA- Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said the spate of attacks in the country was “regrettable,” but states that “surely we will get over it,” as Boko Haram kills more than 200 in the capital city Abuja, within the last four years.

President Jonathan stated this when he visited the site of the deadly explosion in the nation’s capital on Friday,  after cutting short an African Union engagement to meet victims of the attack blamed on Boko Haram.

Jonathan visited the Emab Plaza in central Abuja where a bomb blast killed at least 21 people on Wednesday and later went to a hospital where victims were being treated, describing the worsening Islamist insurgency as “one of the darkest phases in the history” of Nigeria.

“Nigerians are struggling, thinking about how to contribute to (the) nation’s development and working very hard to take care of their families (while) others are busy to kill people,” he told reporters outside the hospital.

Jonathan had planned to attend the second day of talks at the ongoing summit in Equatorial Guinea, but reportedly left the conference on Thursday to return to Abuja.

It was the third major attack in Nigeria’s capital since mid-April and raised further fears about Boko Haram’s growing strength.

Analysts said the insurgents now appeared capable of attacking wherever they want, including remote villages in their northeastern stronghold, and popular commercial targets near the parliament.

Jonathan, fiercely criticised by many for his handling of the crisis, is widely expected to seek re-election in February, although

some in his Peoples Democratic Party have urged him to stand aside.

More than 200 person have been killed and many others injured, and properties lost within the last 4 years.

Below is a timeline of the main attacks in the Nigerian capital since 2010.

–2010–

– October 1: A twin car bomb attack leaves 12 dead and 38 injured in Abuja, near to Eagle Square, where ceremonies for the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence are taking place. The first attack of this type carried out in the capital is claimed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main militant group in Nigeria’s oil-producing region.

–2011–

– April 8: A bomb attack in a polling station in Suleija, near to Abuja, leaves at least 13 dead and dozens injured, on the eve of legislative elections.

– June 16: A suicide attack on federal police headquarters in Abuja leaves two dead, including one police officer. A day later extremist Islamist group Boko Haram claims the attack.

– August 26: A suicide attack on the headquarters of the United Nations in the heart of Abuja, kills 26. Boko Haram claims responsibility.

– December 25: A series of attacks targeting churches leave at least 49 dead, including a suicide bomber. The most deadly attack, which kills 44, takes place outside a Catholic church at Madalla, on the outskirts of Abuja. Boko Haram claims responsibility.

–2012–

– April 26: At least nine are killed, including a suicide bomber, in attacks targeting for the first time newspapers in Abuja and Kaduna, a major city in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram claims responsibility for the two attacks in a video posted on YouTube.

–2014–

– April 14: At least 75 people died in a bomb blast in a packed bus station at Nyanya, on the outskirts of Abuja — the deadliest attack yet to strike the city. Boko Haram claims responsibility in a video.

– May 1: A bomb attack at the same bus station kills at least 19 people, and injures 80.

– June 25: At least 22 killed in the latest bomb attack on a crowded shopping centre in Abuja.