Africa

Africa

12 injured as bomb explodes in northern Nigerian city

19 May 2011 22:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 12 persons were injured in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, on Thursday when a bomb exploded on Lagos Street in the heart of the town, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

A break down of those injured in the blast showed that six civilians, four police officers and two soldiers were affected.

Eyewitnesses said the bomb exploded in the morning when most people were preparing for the day’s business.

"I was at home trying to prepare for work when I heard a big bang which sounded like a power transformer blowing up," Idris Hamza, a resident of the area, said.

Hamza pointed out that few minutes after the noise, he had sporadic gun shots leading to a commotion in the area.

"My brother rushed in from where he had gone to buy bean cake for breakfast," he added.

"It was much later that we got to know that the noise came from a bomb blast and not a transformer,’’ he said.

Hamza added that the area was cordoned off by a team of military personnel shortly after the incident.

Zakari Adamu, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, confirmed the report. "We got a report that one of our patrol teams heading to Kasuwar Shanu had a bomb attack around Lagos Street in the morning," he told reporters.

"Based on the report, it was apparent that the bomb was planted in the night in anticipation of their coming," Adamu said.

He said the vehicle of the patrol team stepped on the explosive believed to have been buried in the area.

According to him, the police had arrested four suspected Boko Haram militants after the Wednesday attack on the Ibrahim Taiwo Divisional Police Headquarters in Maiduguri.

The hoodlums came in a convoy of three cars and attacked the station in the night, he told reporters.

"But the police were ready for them, leading to an exchange of fire for several hours," Adamu said.

He added that the police had begun the interrogation of the suspects to get more information from them.