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Nigeria bans cars during Eid to curb Boko Haram attacks

Nigerian authorities have banned vehicles in Borno State, a Boko Haram stronghold, in an attempt to prevent car bombings during the three-day end of Ramadan celebration.

By JC Finley

ABUJA, Nigeria, July 28 (UPI) -- In an attempt to curb car bombings by Boko Haram during the Muslim holiday, Eid-al-Fitr, authorities in Nigeria's Borno State have banned vehicles during the three-day celebration.

Authorities cited intelligence that suggested Boko Haram was intending to carry out car bombings as the genesis for the ban.

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Borno State governor Kashim Shettima expressed sympathy for the inconvenience the ban has on residents, acknowledging that for some, it impacted their livelihood. But, he concluded, the ban was instituted "in order to safeguard the lives of the innocent citizens" and "we all have to alive before we can do anything at all."

Separately, a church was targeted on Sunday in Kano when a bomb was thrown at worshipers as they left the service. On Monday, a female suicide bomber detonated outside a garage selling kerosene in Kano, killing three people.

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