POTISKUM, Nigeria (AP) – A man forced his way onto a bus at a crowded bus station and detonated explosives that killed 12 people and injured 20 in northeast Nigeria, according to the bus driver and hospital records.
The attack in Potiskum comes two days after a girl who looked about 10 years old detonated explosives that killed herself and four others at a market in the same town.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s blast but it bore the signs of similar attacks by Nigeria’s home-grown Boko Haram Islamic extremist group.
Bus driver Adamu Isa said a security guard stopped a man who set off a metal detector as passengers were boarding his bus.
“He was told to stand to one side but instead forced himself onto the bus and blew himself up,” said Isa, who considered himself lucky to be alive.