Y UMAR YUSUF, with Agency report

MAIDUGURI – A bomb believed to have been planted by Islamic sect, Boko Haram, exploded yesterday in a busy neighbourhood in Maiduguri, Borno State capital killing at least eight people.

A witness, Badigma Bukar, 45, whose arm was injured in the attack, told The Associated Press by telephone that he saw eight dead bodies after the explosion near the palace of an important traditional ruler in Maiduguri.

A worker at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said two dead bodies were taken to the hospital morgue.

Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed, a spokesman for security forces specially deployed to rein in a feared sect in the area, refused to confirm that there were deaths.

Meanwhile, Vice President Moahmmed Namadi Sambo and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, have identified lack of proper knowledge of the teachings of the Holy Quran as being responsible for frequent sectarian uprisings in the country, especially in the Northern parts of the country.