A bomb blast at a bus station in a north-Nigerian area previously targeted by Boko Haram killed five people, police said yesterday, in what appeared to be the latest crack in the government’s purported ceasefire with the militants.
Police in Bauchi state confirmed overnight witness reports of a huge explosion at the terminal in the town of Azare at 9:45pm.
Area resident Musa Babale said the blast “shook buildings” and sent locals rushing for shelter.
“The whole place was a mess,” he said after visiting the site.
Bauchi police spokesman Mohammed Haruna said the bomb killed five people, leaving them “burnt beyond recognition,” and that 12 others were injured.
Several witnesses said they believed the bomb had been embedded in a parked car and was detonated remotely, but police did not give details on the nature of the explosive device.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Bauchi has been one of the hardest-hit areas in Boko Haram’s five-year uprising against the Nigerian state.
Bus station bombings have also become something of a hallmark of the insurgent group after twin attacks at a terminal on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, earlier this year killed nearly 100 people.
The station in Azare, a town about 200km from the state capital Bauchi City, is a widely used transit point by travelers coming from Nigeria’s embattled northeast, which has been under a state of emergency since May last year.
Azare saw a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram through 2012, while Bauchi has been consistently targeted throughout the uprising.
Any indication that the latest explosion was tied to Boko Haram will further undermine the government’s claim to have negotiated a ceasefire with the extremist group.
The surprise deal was announced by the presidency and military on Friday last week, but there are already strong signs that the pact was hollow.
Violence raged through the weekend in the northeast and the credibility of the so-called Boko Haram negotiator has been widely questioned.
A top aide to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan also said the group had agreed to release the 219 schoolgirls held hostage since their April 14 abduction in Chibok.
Like with the ceasefire, there has so far been no sign that the hostage release deal is legitimate.
Nigerian negotiators were reportedly set to resume talks with Boko Haram envoys in neighboring Chad next week.
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