Deaths in Yola bomb explosion rise to 45

The death toll from a suicide bombing at a market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Yola rose to 45 on Friday, authorities said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but it bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The suicide bomber struck at around 1900 GMT on Thursday in the Jimeta district of Yola, the capital of Adamawa state.

“Ten more people died this morning,” said police spokesman Othman Abubakar, adding to the 35 bodies that a senior policeman, who wanted to remain anonymous, earlier said he had seen at the bomb scene.

Around 40 people were wounded, said Abubakar.

Boko Haram has waged a six-year insurgency to try to set up a “caliphate” in the northeast of Africa’s biggest oil exporting country, but government counter-offensives this year have retaken much of the territory held by the jihadists.

But bomb attacks have resurged since the inauguration of newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari last week, with 80 people killed in a series of attacks over the past few days.

*Reuters/NAN