Nigeria police HQ ‘hit by bomber’

A powerful explosion has hit the Nigerian police headquarters in the capital, Abuja, officials say.

“The police force headquarters has been bombed, everywhere is bombed,” deputy police spokesman Yemi Ajayi told AFP.

A BBC correspondent says he can see smoke rising from near the building.

There are no details of casualties and it is not clear what caused the blast but Islamist group Boko Haram has recently been targeting police and government officials.

Most of their attacks have been in the northern city of Maiduguri, but the group said it was behind a series of bombings that took place hours after President Goodluck Jonathan’s inauguration last month.

The group accuses Nigeria’s government of being corrupted by Western ideas and wants to overthrow the state and impose Islamic law on the country.

It has killed dozens of people, mostly shot by gunmen riding motorbikes, in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Last year, officials blamed two explosions in Abuja during celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence on militants from the oil-rich Niger Delta.

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