7 Arrested with explosives near Nigerian capital

Police in a Nigerian town near the capital hit by several bomb blasts in recent months have arrested seven people with explosives, a spokesman said Tuesday. The suspects were arrested in Suleija on Saturday during a raid on a house following a tip-off where "some sophisticated explosives used in bomb making were found," police spokesman Richard Oguche told AFP. "From investigations, the explosives recovered were found to be similar to those used in the four bomb blasts in Suleija in the past five months," Oguche said. He said although the suspects claimed they intended to use the explosives for mining, none were licenced to possess them. "Investigation is ongoing to get to the source of the explosives and what they were intended for and whether they have any link with the (Suleija) bomb blasts," he added. Earlier this month, an explosion near a church in Suleija killed at least three people. Suleija, outside the capital Abuja, was also the target of a deadly bomb attack at an electoral office on the eve of April's parliamentary elections. In March, a blast near the venue of a ruling party election rally killed at least three people, while a recent bomb blast went off without causing any casualties. Most of the bomb attacks in recent months in Nigeria have occurred in the northeastern city of Maiduguri and have been blamed on an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.