Suicide bombing of Nigeria police station kills four

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -
A bomb blast at the entrance
of the police headquarters of
northeast Nigeria's Borno
state killed many people on
Friday, mostly police,
witnesses and security officials
said.
A police officer at the scene,
who could not be named, said
five police vans had been
loaded with the dead.
"Many people, mostly members
of the police, which include
men and women, were killed in
the explosion," said witness Ali
Alhaji in the city of Maiduguri,
the focal point of an
insurgency by Islamist sect
Boko Haram.
Boko Haram, which wants to
create an Islamic state in
parts of Nigeria, has been
blamed for hundreds of bomb
and gun attacks on security
forces and civilians over the
past two years.
There was no immediate claim
of responsibility for the bomb.
Police spokesman for Borno
state Gideon Jibrin confirmed
there had been bomb blast
and that there were
casualties, but he did not
have further details or a
precise toll.
Police stations are a favourite
target for the insurgency,
which flared up partly in
response to police brutality
against its members, including
its founder Mohammed Yusuf,
killed in police custody during
a crackdown in 2009.
From being a reclusive clerical
movement opposed to
Western education last
decade, Boko Haram has
radicalised and mushroomed to
become the main security
threat facing Africa's top
energy producer, and has
linked up with other Islamist
groups in the region such as
al Qaeda's north African wing.
Source: Reuters