BOMB BLAST IN NIGERIA CAPITAL CITY,, ABUJA

A bomb blast hit a police station in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Thursday, sending thick black smoke into the sky, local television and witnesses said.
Witnesses said authorities had cordoned off the roads approaching the police station and ambulances and fire engines were at the scene. The television stations NTA, Channels and AIT all reported that the blast had been caused by a bomb.
"My windows were shaking and I heard the loud noise. I saw smoke coming up. I think it was from the car park of the police station," one witness said.
A series of explosions and attacks targeting police and fire service headquarters rocked northeastern Nigeria last week, suspected to have been carried out by a radical Islamist sect.
Boko Haram, which says it wants a wider application of sharia (Islamic law) in Africa's most populous nation, has warned that it will carry out further attacks across the country if its demands are not met.