At least 20 killed in Nigeria bomb blast

At least 20 people were killed in the attack at a bus station in the city of Gombe, capital of Gombe state, during rush hour on Monday morning.

"There was an explosion at the Dukku motor park. The Red Cross mobilized with 20 body bags and they have all been exhausted," said Abubakar Yakubu Gome, area secretary for the Nigerian Red Cross.

"We are still looking for more bodies among the carnage," he told the AFP news agency, adding that a further 18 people with "serious" injuries had been taken to hospital.

It has been reported that the bomb was detonated near a bus that was filling up with passengers.

Campaign of terror

This is the latest in a spate of violent attacks in a region that has been repeatedly targeted by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

Gombe was hit by a triple bombing at the end of last month that was blamed on the militants.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks at bus stations, often targeting people heading to Nigeria's mainly Christian south.

Gombe state shares a border with Borno and Yobe, two of the regions worst hit by Boko Haram's five-year insurgency which has left more than 13,000 people dead.

Upcoming presidential election

Nigeria is set to hold a presidential election on February 14. However, the continuing violence has raised security concerns ahead of the vote, and there are fears it may be impossible for the ballot to go ahead in large parts of the northeast.

President Goodluck Jonathan, running for a second term, has claimed in the past that Boko Haram's defeat was imminent despite escalating attacks.

In a recent incident on December 14, around 185 people, mostly women and children, were kidnapped from the town of Gumsuri in Borno state.

The attack mirrored the mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from a school in the town of Chibok in April. Jonathan had vowed such an attack would not happen again.

Ex-military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, from the mainly Muslim north, is the main contender in the February poll and is considered to be better placed to contain the ongoing Boko Haram threat. However, he may struggle to unseat an incumbent with the backing of a wealthy ruling party.

lw/glb (AFP, dpa)