56 reported dead in Nigeria blast

People gather at the scene of a car-bomb explosion Tuesday at the central market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, where the blast killed at least 56 people, mostly elderly women, according to the Civilian Joint Task Force.
People gather at the scene of a car-bomb explosion Tuesday at the central market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, where the blast killed at least 56 people, mostly elderly women, according to the Civilian Joint Task Force.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- A car bomb in a marketplace in Maiduguri, the northeast Nigerian city that is the birthplace of Boko Haram extremism, killed at least 56 people Tuesday, said the leader of a civilian group that recovered the bodies.

Sadiq Abba Tijjani, leader of the Civilian Joint Task Force, said his group recovered at least 56 bodies at the blast site, mostly elderly women who had sold peanuts and lemon juice at the market.

Tijjani said the group identified 21 of the dead but the rest "were either burnt or damaged beyond recognition."

Other witnesses also estimated the death toll at about 50. Some officials said 17 people died in the explosion that ripped through the market early Tuesday, but Nigerian officials regularly play down death tolls in such attacks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, however suspicion fell on the violent Islamist group Boko Haram. Maiduguri is the birthplace and traditional stronghold of the extremists.

Boko Haram also has been accused in a series of recent bomb attacks in the West African nation. The group has attracted international attention and condemnation since its April abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls from a northeastern Nigerian town.

The explosives in Tuesday's blast were hidden under a load of charcoal in a large vehicle, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Trader Daba Musa Yobe, who works near the popular market, said the bomb went off just after the market opened, before most traders or customers had arrived.

Security forces cordoned off the area for five hours but had a hard time keeping people out, though they warned there could be secondary explosions timed to target rescue efforts.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in recent months, targeting schools, hotels, markets, bus stations and villages. Nigerian security forces have been unable to contain the violence.

Last week, explosions ripped through the biggest shopping mall in Abuja, Nigeria's central capital, killing 24 people; a medical college in northern Kano city, killing at least eight; and a hotel brothel in northeast Bauchi city that killed 10.

Those explosions marked the third in as many months in Abuja, and the second in two months in Kano.

In May, twin car bombs at a marketplace also left more than 130 dead in central Jos city and killed at least 14 people at a World Cup viewing site in Damaturu, another town in the northeast.

In April, Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls from the northern village of Chibok, 219 of whom remain in captivity. The Nigerian government on Monday announced the arrest of a suspect in the case.

Defense Ministry spokesman Chris Olukolade said the suspect, identified as Babuji Ya'ari, was a Chibok businessman who was involved in a vigilante group set up to defend the village from Boko Haram.

Olukolade alleged that Ya'ari used his position in the group to cover up his affiliation with Boko Haram and to glean intelligence. Ya'ari is also suspected to have been involved in the assassination of a northern religious figure, the emir of Gwoza, who was killed in May when his convoy was attacked, Olukolade said.

Nigerian authorities said that after questioning Ya'ari, they arrested two women. One is accused of being a spy who procured arms for Boko Haram, and the other was accused of being the group's " paymaster."

Information for this article was contributed by HARUNA UMAR and MICHELLE FAUL of The Associated Press and by Robyn Dixon of the Los Angeles Times.

A Section on 07/02/2014

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