ABUJA (Reuters) – A bomb exploded outside a nightclub popular with foreigners and wealthy Nigerians in the capital Abuja late on Friday but no one was injured, an emergency agency said.
The blast shattered windows in nearby buildings and damaged six luxury vehicles, said an emailed statement from National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib, sent on Saturday.
Authorities suspected the bomb was planted on a tree outside the Kryxtal Lounge club, the statement added.
Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed hundreds in bomb and gun attacks in its insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.
Its assaults usually focus on government and religious targets in the largely Muslim north but it has struck the capital several times, including a suicide bomb attack on a U.N. building last year that killed 24 people.
Jonathan sacked his defence minister and national security adviser on Friday, but gave no reason for the move.
A state of emergency and a military crackdown on the sect across the north have failed to quell the insurgency.
At least 92 people were killed in violence between Muslims and Christians in the northern city of Kaduna last week, sparked by suicide bombs blasts at churches.
Jonathan drew criticism for travelling to Brazil for a climate change conference at the height of the religious violence in Kaduna.
Boko Haram, which is loosely modeled on the Afghan Taliban, wants to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria and is seen as the country’s biggest security threat.