Jan 1 (Reuters) - A New Year's eve bombing in the Nigerian capital Abuja which killed at least four people is the latest in a string of attacks to raise tensions ahead of elections in Africa's biggest oil producer. [ID:nLDE6BU0MQ]
Below are answers to some questions on the troubles and what they could mean.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR?
The latest wave of violence in Nigeria began on Christmas Eve with bombings claimed by the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram in central Nigeria, fire bombings of churches and shootings in the largely Muslim north. [ID:nLDE6BO03F]
Authorities believe Boko Haram is behind all those incidents.
President Goodluck Jonathan also blamed the sect for the Abuja bombing although there has been no claim of responsibility yet. A militant group from oil-producing Niger Delta region bombed Abuja in October, killing at least 10 people.
The total death toll from all the attacks and from clashes between Christians and Muslims in the central city of Jos which followed the bombings now stands at well over 90.
Police have arrested more than 90 suspected Boko Haram members in connection with the attacks. [ID:nLDE6BU0E3]
In an apparently unrelated incident during the week, bombs hit a political rally in the Niger delta. Nobody was killed.
WHAT IS BEHIND THE ATTACKS?
Boko Haram wants strict Sharia Islamic law applied across Africa's most populous nation, which is roughly evenly split between Christians and Muslims.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful" in the Hausa language spoken across northern Nigeria, is loosely modelled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
It has no clearly set out agenda for achieving its goals other than by attacking those it sees as unbelievers. It staged an uprising last year in the northern city of Maiduguri. As many as 800 people died in clashes with security forces.
Christmas is an obvious time for an Islamist militant group to try to get the maximum impact from attacks.
But some officials have also said they suspect the attacks may be politically motivated, aimed at damaging Jonathan's credibility ahead of elections due in April for the presidency, parliament, regional governorships and local governments.
The bombing in the Niger Delta looks unrelated to the troubles in the north and appears more linked to the intense struggle for lucrative local posts.
WHAT POLITICAL IMPACT WILL THE TROUBLES HAVE?
The violence certainly reflects poorly on Jonathan, whose opponents portray him as weak on security matters.
But they are unlikely to be a decisive factor at ruling party primaries in January, where Jonathan faces rival Atiku Abubakar. Much more significant will be political horse trading and payments to the right kingmakers.
The situation is complicated by the quarrel over whether Jonathan should have the right to stand.
He succeeded a northern president who died in office and some within the party argue that it should have a northern candidate, such as Abubakar, under an informal deal to rotate power between regions every two presidential terms.
Because of Jonathan's Niger Delta origins, he could be more vulnerable to attacks by militants from there or to any major surge of instability in a region where a ceasefire has put an insurgency on hold.
Nigeria is used to localised bouts of violence in which thousands can die, but if bloodshed and chaos were sustained and widespread enough it could create stirrings in the military, which has ruled for most of Nigeria's 50 years of independence.
WHAT IMPACT WILL IT HAVE ON OIL PRODUCTION?
Violence in the north will have no impact on Nigeria's production of more than 2.2 million barrels of crude a day. The Niger Delta's oil producing areas are hundreds of kilometres (miles) away and have no significant Muslim population.
Any major increase in troubles in the Niger Delta could have an impact on output although political violence between competing candidates is less likely to affect crude production than a resumption of the insurgency there would be.
The recruitment of youths as political thugs at election time has been a long term factor in driving unrest there.
WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR INVESTMENT?
The troubles will undoubtedly make foreign investors even more wary of putting money in Nigeria ahead of the elections.
With a population of 150 million and major resources of gas as well as oil, it is seen by many frontier investors as a good long term bet. It is among the Goldman Sachs "Next 11" emerging economies after the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and one of the top picks of Franklin Templeton's Mark Mobius.
But most will want to see how the elections go.
Nigeria's All-Share Index <.NGSEINDEX> was up nearly 20 percent over 2010, but the biggest gains were early in the year and it ended more than 10 percent down on its year high.
The naira currency weakened very slightly against the dollar over the year.
Yields on domestic debt rose over 2010 after historic lows early in the year. The yield on the 5-year bond <NG5YT=RR> closed 2010 above 12 percent from below 4 percent in March.
Despite the various worries, Nigeria has said it sees a lot of foreign interest in its planned debut ${esc.dollar}500 million international bond -- being launched to set a benchmark for borrowing by others rather than to raise needed funds. (Reporting by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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