There was a bomb explosion close to a church building in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, on Sunday.
Several people were wounded in the bomb blast but security officials report there were no deaths.
The blast, according to the Daily Sun, occurred at about 4 p.m., in the Gwange area of the city where soldiers of the Joint Task Force (JTF) were on guard close to a church building. The attack was apparently targeted at the JTF security post. The Nigerian Tribune says that a JTF vehicle took direct hit in the blast. Business Day confirms that a soldier was among the wounded.
The explosion caused panic in Maiduguri township as the news spread through GSM phone calls and text messages. People rushed to the safety of their homes and soon the streets were deserted.
Nigerian security agencies have not confirmed whether the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram was responsible for the attack. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a series of recent bomb attacks and assassinations in Nigeria, including a suicide bomb attack on UN Headquarters in August, in which 23 people died.
This is not the first incident of bomb attack in Maiduguri township. Boko Haram, radical Islamic sect fighting for full implementation of Sharia law in Nigeria, was responsible for a bomb blast which killed two girls and three customs officers in June, 2011. According to Al-Jazeera, the June bombing occurred within 24 hrs of a bomb attack on a beer garden which killed 25 people(Boko Haram insists that Sharia law prohibits sale and consumption of beer)
