Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed a bomb explosion at EMAB Plaza, a shopping mall  in Wuse 2, Abuja, on Wednesday afternoon.

 NEMA’s Press Officer, Mr Ezekiel Manzo who confirmed the explosion to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the agency had deployed an emergency rescue team to the scene of the incident.

 He said the agency received a signal about the explosion at 4 p.m.

Burning vehicles at the Emab plaza, Abuja

 “Security personnel have cordoned off the area,’’ Manzo said.

 Eyewitness accounts said no fewer than 10 victims had been taken in body bags from the scene.

 However, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba who was at the scene of the incident, said it was premature to comment on the number of casualties.

 “It is premature to comment on the number of casualties, the type of explosion used and how it occurred,’’ Mba said.

 He said the wounded had been taken to Wuse General Hospital and the National Hospital Abuja.

 Mba appealed to the media and the public to give security agencies time to do their work and to stay away from the scene so as not to tamper with evidence.