Nigeria’s Boko Haram Kills at Least 165 People in Kano Bombings

• At least 165 people were killed in the northern Nigerian city of Kano in bomb attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram on government buildings.
• The group claimed responsibility for the blasts that struck eight government buildings on Jan. 20, its spokesman, Abu Qaqa, said by phone. 
• Authorities in Africa’s top oil producer blame Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” for bombings and attacks in the mainly Muslim north and the capital Abuja over the past year.
• President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in parts of four states in the northeast region on Dec. 31 and set up a special counterterrorism unit within the armed forces after at least 43 people died and 73 were wounded in a Christmas day bombing of a church near Abuja. Islamic militants pose a worse threat to the country than the 1967-1970 Biafra civil war, Jonathan said on Jan. 8.