Two bomb blasts have rocked the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja, including one target previously attacked by Boko Haram, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency has said.
The explosions happened near a police station in Kuje and at a bus stop in Nyanya at about 10:30 pm (2130 GMT), said NEMA spokesman Manzo Ezekiel, “There are a number of dead.”
Kuje, near Abuja’s airport, is about 40 km from the city center and seat of government, Al Jazeera reported.
The same bus station in Nyanya was hit twice last year. The first attack, on April 14, 2014, left at least 75 dead and was claimed by Boko Haram, the second, on May 1, left at least 16 dead.
Ezekiel said the latest blasts happened almost simultaneously and appeared to use “the same kind of explosives used in the insurgency” in Nigeria’s northeast, AFP reported.
“It was not an accidental explosion ... definitely it was a bomb,” he added.
“At this time we can only confirm the explosions. Our officers are on the ground. There are a number of dead, but we can’t say anything about numbers now.”
Bitrus Dabli, an Abuja resident who heard the Kuje blast, said: “Today there was a bomb blast that occurred in Kuje central market around 10:45.
“That was the actual time the bomb blast took place so I was at home by then, so when they called I came and saw the fire.
“The place was still burning so everybody was afraid to go in there.”
