Major Explosion Rocks Nigerian Market; Casualties ‘Very High’

Nigeria,12 Februry 2015-VOA:-A bomb exploded at a market in Nigeria’s troubled northeast Thursday, and officials and news reports said casualties appeared to be high.​

Reuters, citing witnesses and a community leader, said a female suicide bomber may have been to blame for the blast, which occurred just before a political rally and the expected visit of a former state governor in the Borno State town of Biu.​

It was the latest in a string of violent attacks that have roiled Africa’s most populous nation ahead of critical national elections that had been scheduled for Saturday.​

Much of the violence is linked to the nearly six-year insurgency by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which has terrorized Borno and other states in Nigeria’s northeast​.

The inability of the security forces to quell the violence has turned into a major election issue, and prompted officials to postpone Saturday’s vote until March 28.​

A member of the civilian Joint Task Force— a semi-official organization helping in the fight against Boko Haram— told a VOA reporter that the casualty figure was "very high."

The blast went off around 3:20 p.m. local time, ahead of a political rally and the scheduled visit of a former state governor.  Before the blast, demonstrators were vandalizing the flag of Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.​

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.​

One community leader, Ali Mai Biu, was quoted by Reuters as saying many people were feared dead and scores wounded. ​

In the election, incumbent Jonathan Goodluck is facing Muhammadu Buhari, a former military officer who ruled Nigeria for two years in the 1980s after a coup.

Polls taken before the postponement of the election had showed Buhari closing in on Goodluck.​

Boko Haram has killed thousands of civilians, displaced nearly 1 million others, and seized dozens of villages in northeastern Nigeria for what their leader says will be an Islamic caliphate.