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Nigeria's security services on high alert over al-Qaeda scare attacks Mon. May 12, 2008 02:25 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. - (SomaliNet)After a warning from the police chief that al-Qaeda could be planning a bombing campaign in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria's security services were on high alert on Saturday. "The al-Qaeda network has planned to send time bombs to Nigeria," Inspector General Mike Okiro told senior officers on Friday at a meeting in the south of the west African nation, according to several newspapers. However, Okiro gave no more details of the threat or of possible targets but ordered security checks to be upgraded across the west African country, particularly at seaports, airports and land border points. Meanwhile, Nigeria has never suffered an al-Qaeda attack but since a large proportion of its population is Muslim, and since it is home to various armed groups, US officials see it as being at risk of such activity. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in February 2003, called on Muslims to rise up in a number of states including Nigeria. In December 2007, he suggested that true Muslim believers should overthrow their governments, and made a reference to support for Nigerian "brothers". Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil producer, has struggled in recent years to quell rebel attacks by a number of groups in the Niger Delta, the main oil producing region in the south of the country. Nigeria's territorial waters have overtaken those of Indonesia to become the number-one hotspot in the world for piracy, the International Maritime Bureau said last month. With an overall population estimated at 140-million, Nigeria is home to at least 50-million Muslims and 12 of its 36 states - all in the north - have followed Islamic sharia law since 2000.-AFP News Category: Africa Latest Headlines Latest News East Africa threatened by soaring food prices-O... Somalia: 9 civilians killed by Ethiopian soldiers i... Nigerian drug trafficker beheaded in the holy city o... Nigeria: Militant group threatens to attack oil pipe... Philippines to send over 300 soldiers to Liberia for... Nigeria: 12 killed as petrol tanker burst into flame... U.S: Man shoots three people at community college <... Iran: Fresh nuclear talks could resume- says top offi... South Africa: UN boss plans to name SA judge for top... Asia: Jet pilot could face life in prison for ‘delib... More News...