Bombs kill 8 as Nigeria celebrates independence

— Eight people were killed and three were injured Friday in car bombings that hit Nigeria’s capital near a parade marking the 50th anniversary of independence, police said.

The two explosions occurred an hour after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s biggest rebel group, issued an e-mail warning saying it had planted several bombs and telling people to evacuate the area.

A Reuters cameraman said security forces and firefighters in the capital, Abuja, had been trying to douse a fire in a car after the first explosion when the second blast struck.

“Two car bombs exploded and eight people are confirmed dead,” police spokesman Jimoh Moshood told the news agency.

The lavish celebrations of military bands, troupes of dancing children and air force displays continued as planned.

MEND has been fighting for years for a greater share of oil revenues from the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry. Although most of its activities have been focused on the creeks and swamps of the delta, it has also struck farther afield, including at offshore oil installations and in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.