A bombing at a bus station in northeast Nigeria killed at least 20 people on Monday, as Boko Haram was blamed for a separate attack in the embattled region. Violence in the northeast is escalating ahead of Nigeria's February 14 general elections, with many concerned that voting will be impossible in large parts of the region. The blast hit the Dukku motor park on the outskirts of Gombe city, capital of Gombe state, at roughly 10:50 am (0950 GMT), officials said. State secretary for the Red Cross Abubakar Yakubu Gombe said his staff sent 20 body bags to the scene and "they have all been exhausted". "We are still looking for more bodies among the carnage", adding that another 18 people with "serious" injuries had been taken to hospital. The attack happened as reports emerged that Boko Haram militants had torched the town of Geidam in neighbouring Yobe state at the weekend. The bomb in Gombe was planted near a bus that was filling up with passengers, said Mato Yakubu of the National Orientation Agency, a government body responsible for the media.
