20110629
Reuters
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has imposed earlier closing times on nightclubs, beer gardens and cinemas in the capital Abuja and banned parking on two of the city's major roads after a bomb attack at police headquarters two weeks ago.

Parks and gardens that admit children must close by 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) while cinemas, nightclubs, beer parlours and public pool areas must shut by 10 p.m., the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said.

"These measures are necessitated by the need to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the Federal Capital Territory (as a result of) the prevailing security concerns," an e-mail from the FCTA spokesman said.

"Monitoring teams will be going round to ensure strict compliance."

Beer gardens are the primary evening socialising area for many Nigerians but have become a target of bomb attacks claimed by Boko Haram, a radical Islamic sect from the remote northeast.

The FCTA has also banned on-street parking on two major roads. One of the streets was the site of a deadly bomb attack during independence day celebrations last year while the other passes many of the largest government head offices.

Boko Haram said it was behind the blast which tore through the car park of police headquarters on June 16, killing several people and narrowly missing the inspector general of police.

The sect has been responsible for almost daily killings and attacks on police and government buildings in recent months in and around Maiduguri, which lies near Nigeria's remote northeastern borders with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.