ABUJA – Three people were killed and 21 injured by an explosive device thrown from a car at an election rally near Nigeria’s capital Abuja yesterday, the latest act of political violence ahead of nationwide polls next month.
The device missed the centre of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally in the town of Suleja, on the northwestern edge of Abuja, but landed close to where street traders were working, police said.
“Some people in a moving vehicle threw an explosive at a rally organised by the PDP in Suleja,” national police spokesman Olusola Amore said. “Unfortunately for them, the explosive missed the (centre) of the rally and exploded where women and other hawkers were selling things. Three people were killed on the spot and 21 wounded.”
Africa’s most populous nation holds presidential, parliamentary and state governorship polls in April and the main candidates in all three elections have been holding rallies around the country.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who was campaigning in the southwest when the attack happened, is seen as the frontrunner in the presidential race. Local elections are expected to be more fiercely contested but have been marked by violence.
No one claimed responsibility for the Suleja attack and no arrests have been made, Mr Amore said.
The perpetrators of a car bomb in Abuja on New Year’s Eve have still not been identified and there have been several attacks on opposition party offices and rallies in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta. – (Reuters)