An explosion at a crowded market in Nigeria's capital Abuja killed at least four people and injured more than a dozen more during New Year's Eve celebrations late on Friday, police said. President Goodluck Jonathan blamed the blast on a militant group that claimed responsibility for bombings on Christmas Eve in central Nigeria that killed at least 80 people, and urged the security forces to track down those responsible.
The explosion occurred at Mami market, a busy area where people congregate to socialise on the edge of the Sani Abacha army barracks but not in its militarised area. Boko Haram, a radical sect which wants Islamic law throughout Nigeria, said it was behind the bombings in Jos on December 24, which also wounded more than 100.
The police say the group is behind a series of shootings and blasts in northern Nigeria in the past week that come just four months before a presidential election in Nigeria that could heighten ethnic and religious rivalries in the oil exporter.