The International Herald Tribune is reporting that Nigerian security agents have arrested several Nigerian men in the north of the country who allegedly had materials for making explosives, and evidence has linked them to the al-Qaeda terror network, according to a senior security official.The official said the suspects had been on the verge of carrying out attacks when they were detained, and demonstrated a photograph of materials allegedly seized from the suspects showing four bags of fertilizer, seven sticks of dynamite, a combat rifle and detonators.
Osama bin Laden is reported in one of his messages to have named oil-rich Nigeria as a country ripe for liberation from Western influence, and periodically the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria issues terror attack warnings.
According to the BBC, Nigeria has not suffered a terrorist attack and despite occasional arrests of suspected Islamic militants there is no evidence of al-Qaeda in Nigeria.
