Nigeria bomb blast kills 3
Nigerians read newspapers about the presidential election results on April 19, 2011. Jonathan, the first president from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, was declared winner late on April 18 of a landmark vote that exposed regional tensions and led to rioting which killed 500 people.
Nigeria's elections continue to be a bit chaotic and sometimes violent.
The most recent violence came from a bomb blast Sunday in the northeastern city of Maiduguri that killed three people and wounded 14.
The radical Islamic sect Boko Haram has been blamed by Nigeria police for the attacks, which occurred ahead of nationwide gubernatorial elections Tuesday.
A total of three bomb blasts went off at a hotel and a motor park. All the casualties resulted from the hotel attack.
Boko Haram was also blamed by police for an explosion in Maiduguri early Monday that injured one policeman.
Police suggest that Boko Haram militants are trying to intimidate voters before the polls open Tuesday.
The Boko Haram group is known for using violence and its aims are to get Islamic Shariah law used throughout Nigeria. The group's name means "western education is sinful."
Nigeria governor elections are scheduled to be held in most of Nigeria's 36 states. Voting in northern Kaduna and Bauchi was delayed for two days because of security concerns.
Riots broke out in the predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria last week after election officials announced that President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, had won the presidential ballot. At least 500 people were killed in the violence.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 155 million people, is divided about evenly between Muslims, who mostly live in the north, and Christians, most of whom live in the south.
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