Suicide bombing in Nigeria kills 7: police

A Nigerian police officer says a suicide bomb attack has killed seven people in the northeast of the country.

A suicide bomb attack targeting a political meeting has killed seven people in northeast Nigeria's Potiskum city, witnesses and a police officer say.

"We have evacuated eight bodies including the suicide bomber's to hospital," said a police officer at the scene, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Seven others were injured, he added.

Witness Nura Umar, who gave the same death toll, said the bomber emerged from a bus that pulled up in front of the home of Sabo Garbu, who is running for a seat in the lower house on the ruling Peoples Democracy Party ticket.

Garbu was holding a campaign meeting ahead of February 14 polls in his home at the time but none of the participants were injured, the policeman and three witnesses said.

Boko Haram Islamists have carried out waves of similar bombings across the northeast during a six-year uprising, and have killed politicians in targeted attacks.

But it was not immediately clear why the insurgents would want to target Garbu and it was possible that the attack was carried out by another group with a separate political motive.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated


Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world