Islamist sect Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Shiite Muslim procession near Kano which killed 22 people.
In a statement written in Arabic on social media, the group said its bomber “detonated his explosives which led to the death” of the victims on Friday.
“And by the permission of Allah these attacks of ours against Shi’a polytheists will continue until we cleanse the earth of their filth,” it warned.
One of the organizers of the march, Ali Kakaki told AFP: “For now, we have 22 deaths following the death of one more person yesterday. Thirty-eight people have also been injured, two of whom have been discharged from the hospital.”
According to him, despite the attack on Friday, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria members had continued their march from Kano to Zaria in neighbouring Kaduna state, where their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is based.
The march is to mark Ashura, which commemorates the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
Boko Haram regards Shias as heretics who should be killed.
