Nigerian leader vows to rid country of 'terrorists'

ABUJA — President Goodluck Jonathan vowed Saturday to rid Nigeria of "terrorists" after a bomb ripped through a crowded market in Abuja on New Year's Eve, killing four people in the latest of a spate of attacks.Speaking at a New Year church service, Jonathan said late Friday's bombing in the capital bore the hallmarks of a series of attacks on Christmas Eve that left about 80 people dead, including after reprisals."They (attacks) will never stop Nigeria from where we are going to, we must work and reproduce a country ... where there will be no space for terrorists, a country where there will be no bombers and people with explosives to deter us," he said.The four people killed in Friday's bomb attack near a military barracks in Abuja included a pregnant woman, Defence Minister Adetokunbo Kayode said.Twenty-six people were wounded, 11 seriously, he said.There has been no claim of responsibility.All the dead and most of the injured are civilians, the minister told reporters. A soldier was among those injured, the president's office said.It was the second such attack in the capital since twin car bombings on Independence Day on October 1 killed 12 people.That attack was claimed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) group which claims to be fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue in Nigeria's oil-rich but impoverished Delta region.Jonathan said such attacks were "road bumps" in the country's development."For us to get where we want to go as a nation, we will have our obstacles," Jonathan told the church service, referring to the Israelites' difficult journey to the Promised Land as told in the Bible.Kayode promised a "thorough investigation" but said it was not yet clear who may have been behind Friday's blast.The bomb exploded at around 7:00 pm at a popular eating and drinking spot on the fringes of the Mogadishu military barracks in a heavily fortified area of the city.The site was cordoned off Saturday and dozens of security officials, including soldiers, stood guard or pa

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