Bomb blasts have killed at least two people in northeastern Nigeria, the latest unrest to hit Africa's most populous nation after presidential elections and ahead of state governorship polls.
Bomb blasts have killed at least two people in northeastern Nigeria,
the latest unrest to hit Africa's most populous nation after
presidential elections and ahead of state governorship polls.
Police
had so far counted at least two dead and eight wounded, while saying
they suspected the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram was behind the
attacks on Easter Sunday night in the city of Maiduguri.
It was
unclear whether the blasts were linked to the unrest that swept across
Nigeria's north last week, leaving more than 500 dead according to a
local rights group.
Maiduguri has long been hit by violence
blamed on the Islamist sect, which launched an uprising in 2009, and
police said they suspected the group was behind Sunday's bomb blasts at
a hotel tavern and at the gate of a transport hub.
The
explosions, which police said were caused by bombs, occurred nearly
simultaneously, with the two locations not far apart. Two blasts hit
the hotel and one hit the station for buses and communal taxis.
"So
far we have two dead and eight injured from last night's blast," police
commissioner Mike Zuokumor told AFP. All the casualties were reported
at the hotel, he said.
Police spokesman Mai Mamman said earlier
that "from all indications, this is the handiwork of Boko Haram, which
has carried out similar attacks in the past."
The sect known as
Boko Haram is seen as opposed to the ruling party in Borno state, where
Maiduguri is the capital, and some of the recent violence blamed on the
group is believed to have been politically motivated.
Most of
Nigeria's 36 states will hold governorship elections on Tuesday,
including Borno, where the All Nigeria Peoples Party is in power. The
party controls three states in Nigeria.
"We have placed our men on the alert for the governorship tomorrow. We will not be daunted by terrorists," said Zuokumor.
Boko Haram had distributed fliers earlier Sunday warning of further attacks, saying "we are fighters waging jihad in Nigeria."
"We
will never accept any system of governance apart from the one described
by Islam because that is the only way Muslims can be liberated," the
fliers said. "We do not respect the Nigerian government because it is
illegal.
