Probe into Deadly Nigeria Blast as Police Foil New Attack

Police said on Monday they had foiled a second suicide car bomb attack in Kano, after a blast ripped through a busy entertainment spot in Nigeria's second city, killing four.

The authorities said it was too early to say who was behind the first blast in the predominantly Christian Sabon Gari district, which has previously been targeted by Boko Haram militants.

Local government elections were held in Kano on Saturday and saw the main opposition party rout the ruling party of President Goodluck Jonathan. The last poll in 2007 was marred by violence.

Officers said they had averted another car bombing after stopping a vehicle laden with the materials for making a home-made bomb.

"Kano police operatives, acting on intelligence, tracked and recovered a Mitsubishi station wagon car... loaded with assorted gas cylinders, one container of fuel and other electrical components of improvised explosive devices," a statement read.

"The vehicle was recovered at Tafawa Balewa Street, (in the) Nasarawa area of Kano state, and has since been rendered safe by police bomb disposal experts.

Kano police commissioner Adelere Shiniba said on Sunday that four people -- three men and a 12-year-old girl -- were killed when the blast happened at about 10:00 pm (2100 GMT).

But local resident Steven Nwogor told reporters he had lost his two daughters in the explosion, which blew out windows and could be heard across the city, while his wife was seriously injured.

"I have lost two of my seven children for no reason and my wife is in hospital and I'm not sure if she will make it," said the 43-year-old trader, fighting back tears.

"My life has been shattered and I don't know what to do."

The two children, the eldest of whom wanted to become a doctor, had been helping their mother at her roadside fish stall when the blast happened, he added.

The scene of the blast on Middle Road was cordoned off behind yellow tape, with dozens of armed police and soldiers on guard and allowing only local residents back home.

Forensics specialists were seen working at the scene, gathering together the fragments of the Volkswagen Golf car thought to have been used in the attack, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

Detectives were combing the scorched and blood-stained ground, which was littered with broken plastic chairs and tables from the many roadside bars and restaurants in the popular area.

Flies buzzed around broken beer bottles and spilt alcohol, as residents discussed the explosion in groups.

"This is an attack on all of us. We are in mourning and it will be callous for us to abandon our neighbors in this moment of grief," vehicle parts dealer Obinna Amobi told AFP.

Last July, a series of explosions rocked Sabon Gari, killing 12 with outdoor bars the apparent target. The military at the time blamed Boko Haram.

The Islamic extremists have in the past inflicted heavy violence on Kano, which is a commercial hub for the whole of the Muslim-majority north.

But some were quick to make a link between the blast and local government elections held in Kano on Saturday, at which the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all 44 seats.

Northern Nigeria has been hit by five years of increasingly bloody attacks at the hands of Boko Haram and a mounting civilian death toll.

On Saturday, Jonathan and his counterparts from Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon vowed to step up cooperation to target the group seen as a threat to regional stability.

The United States, Britain, France and Israel are involving in the hunt to find 223 schoolgirls still missing after they were kidnapped in Chibok, northeast Borno state, on April 14.

Jonathan, under pressure because of his handling of the affair, has ruled out negotiations for their release, after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau indicated they may be freed in a prisoner exchange.