A car bomb at an army barracks in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt killed three people on Wednesday evening, a military source said on Thursday, and militants said they had detonated the bomb.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), whose attacks on the oil industry have cut Nigerian exports by a quarter, said in an email sent to media they would carry out more such attacks on oil industry targets and individuals.
“The explosion shattered many vehicles. The whole place is littered with wreckage,” said a military source who lives in the barracks, asking not to be named.
“Three people died and several others sustained injuries and they were taken to the military hospital.”
MEND, which has demanded more local autonomy over the Niger Delta’s oil revenues, said their operatives detonated the bomb by remote control.
They said the bomb was “symbolic rather than strategic”, and served as a warning to soldiers and oil workers that the military was unable to protect itself, let alone the oil industry.
“In the coming weeks, we will carry out similar attacks against relevant oil industry targets and individuals,” MEND said.