Goodluck Jonathan, the
Nigerian president, narrowly avoided a deadly bomb at a re-election campaign
rally in the city of Gombe on Monday.
A bomb exploded in a car park
200 yards outside a stadium just three minutes after Nigeria's president left,
witnesses said, wounding 18.
There was no claim of
responsibility for Sunday's attacks but the city has been hit by suspected Boko
Haram militants in the past and suspicion was likely to fall on the Islamist
group.
Initial reports suggested the
blast came from a car bomb, but rescue workers and health officials later said
two female suicide bombers were suspected of being behind the attack.
"We have evacuated two
bodies of females we believe were suicide bombers behind the blast," said
a rescue worker, a comment backed by a medical source at Gombe State Specialist
Hospital.
Mohammed Bolari, who was at
the rally in the northeastern city, said the explosion happened at 3.10pm
(2.10pm GMT), just three minutes after Mr Jonathan's departure.
A local reporter who asked not
to be named said: "The president had just passed the parking lot and we
were trailing behind his convoy when the explosion happened... just 100 metres
from the bus we were driving in."
Mr Jonathan had been speaking
to supporters of his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as part of his bid
for re-election at polls in two weeks' time.
His appearance in the city
came just a day after two blasts in the city, including one that targeted a
military checkpoint. At least five people were killed.
Bolari said of the latest
blast: "It is difficult to say how many people were affected because of
the confused struggle by the huge crowd leaving the venue to escape for fear of
another blast."
The local reporter said that
the explosion led to unrest in the city, with crowds of angry youths attacking
anyone seen with any PDP signs.
"They were shouting and
denouncing the president's visit which they blamed for the attack," he
added.
"We had a difficult time
passing through these crowds. At one point a crowd threw stones at our vehicle.
Some reporters sustained cuts from smashed window screens."
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Politics