Explosion near bus station in Nigeria leaves many dead

At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion near a bus station in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Gombe, a doctor and nurse at the hospital treating the injured said. 

“We received 10 dead bodies from the blast at the Bauchi motor park [bus station],” a doctor at the Gombe Specialist Hospital said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. 

“Five of the dead were claimed by relatives. We still have five others in the morgue. Eight people are now in the emergency ward being treated for wounds sustained during the blast.” 

The blast happened at about 8:30pm local time on Thursday after a woman inquired about the destination of a bus leaving for the central city of Jos at the terminus, witnesses said. 

It bore the hallmarks of the armed group Boko Haram, who have hit a number of bus stations and crowded markets in recent weeks, including with suicide bombers. 

A nurse at the Gombe Specialist Hospital, who also asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the death toll and said of the injured: “Eight people are now responding to treatment. The wounds are mostly cuts and burns.” 

Commissioner’s death 

In a separate incident, the electoral commissioner for Nigeria’s second-most populous state, Kano, died in a house fire with his wife and two children, his office told the AFP.

Resident electoral commissioner Mukaila Abdullah presided over polls last weekend, in which opposition presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari won overwhelming support in the northern state. 

Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) also took all available seats in the parliamentary vote held at the same time. 

“It is true we lost our commissioner to a fire outbreak in his house,” said Lawan Garba, spokesman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano. 

“He died along with his wife and two children. We have conveyed the bodies to his home town, Dutse [the capital of neighbouring Jigawa state], where he will be buried after Friday prayers.” 

Kano police spokesman Musa Magaji Majia said the fire broke out at about 4:30am (0330 GMT) in an air conditioning unit in the living room. 

Attempts were made to break inside the house and when police and security guards managed to enter, the family was found unconscious on the floor of the bathroom.