Bombing at Nigerian college, Boko Haram suspected

In this photo dated 6 June 2013, soldiers stand guard at the offices of the state-run Nigerian Television Authority in Maiduguri, Nigeria. The radical group Boko Haram once attacked only government institutions and security forces, but now increasingly targets civilians.(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

A bomb was set off Monday at the School of Hygiene in Kano, Nigeria. At least eight people were killed, and a dozen more injured.

Police reported that a suspect was taken into custody, and his vehicle was impounded. The bomb was planted around 1 p.m. local time.

Although no classes were being held on campus due to the end of the semester, the AFP reports that new students were on site registering for next term. The explosion occurred in a parking lot near the provost's office.

Terrorist group Boko Haram is under suspicion for orchestrating the attack, as they have targeted learning institutions in the past. The group once targeted Kano on a nearly daily basis, but law enforcement authorities and the military have been more successful in quelling the violence. Access to the college is now heavily restricted by military personnel.

A Christian area of Kano was attacked by a suicide car bomb on May 19, killing four. Boko Haram is also suspected in the attack on Koronginim, Borno state on Saturday. Homes were destroyed and several people were killed. A witness said that the assailants yelled, "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) before firing upon the villagers.

"Two of their leaders were giving orders that they should shoot anyone on sight ... I crawled into the nearby bush and fled from there," the witness told the Nigerian Tribune.

Boko Haram was founded in 2002, but has become increasingly violent since Abubakar Shekau assumed leadership in 2009.

The group became internationally known after kidnapping over 270 children from an all-girls school in Chibok, Nigeria on April 14. A second mass kidnapping occurred on May 4 in Warabe.

During a speech at the Nigerian State House on Friday, President Goodluck Jonathan said that they have not given up their efforts to rescue the girls. Over 200 kidnapped students remain missing.