A huge explosion rocked a divisional police headquarters in Jimeta town of Nigeria’s northeastern state of Adamawa on Thursday, according to local authorities.

The Adamawa state authority has confirmed the suspected bomb blast at the premises of Adamawa Motor Traffic Department of the Nigeria Police.

Harun Furo, Permanent Secretary of the Special Duty and Executive Chairman of Adamawa Emergency Management Agency in Adamawa state capital Yola, confirmed the incident to Xinhua, but said detail of damage caused by the blast was yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, the police authority has confirmed that the blast at the Jimeta Police station which houses the headquarters of the command anti-bomb squad, was caused by bombs recovered from Boko Haram suspects.

Police chief in charge of the state Mohammed Gazali said the recovered bombs exploded from the store where the exhibits were being kept and most of those affected were policemen.

“Policemen were mostly affected and we don’t know the actual casualties for now as the place is not yet safe for us to go in,” Gazalli told Xinhua.

The station houses the state Central Investigation Bureau, Motor Traffic Department and the police tailoring section.

Cause of the blast remains not immediately known.

The divisional police headquarters was badly damaged as a result of the powerful blast, according to a witness identified as Mohammed Bello.

“The powerful blast even shattered the doors and glass windows of buildings in the area,” he said.

Atiku Bala, another witness, said there might be a high number of casualties because the divisional police headquarters was usually jampacked.

Moreover, an elementary school located directly opposite the divisional police headquarters in Jimeta was in session, with pupils in their classrooms when the blast occurred, the witness said.

[Source: Africa News]