'At least 71 dead' in Nigeria bus station bombing

Nigeria will continue to host the World Economic Forum in Abuja despite yesterdays bomb attack that killed 71.

Nigeria has pledged that they will put together the "largest security operation ever mounted in the country for an international summit" to protect guests - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement sent to forum participants.

The 24th World Economic Forum on Africa will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 7-9 May 2014.

Read more: 'At least 71 dead' in Nigeria bus station bombing

Washington has condemned the bombings at a bus station in Nigeria, which killed at least 71 people. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States stood with the Nigerians as they grapple with "violent extremism".

"We are outraged by these senseless acts of violence against innocent civilians," Psaki told a regular news briefing.

Read: 'At least 71 dead' in Nigeria bus station bombing

The director of US charitable institution the MacArthur Foundation's Abuja office has said that it is "no big surprise" that there was a bomb attack on a bus station in Nigeria.

Although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility to the bomb blast, suspicion has fallen on the Islamist group Boko Haram.

Kole Shettima said: "The situation has been escalating. It's a statement that they are still around and they can attack Abuja when they want, and instill fear."

An eyewitness claimed that hundreds may have been killed in a bomb explosion at a bus station on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital.

Abuja resident Anthony Adikwu said: "What I saw is that there are about five hundred, more than five hundred people because the El Rufai buses were all filled up and [there were] about seven to eight buses".

Read: Many dead after bomb rips through Nigerian bus station

The director of the National Emergency Management Agency's search and rescue operation has said that the nature of a bomb explosion, that killed at least 71 people at a bus station in Nigeria, came from within a vehicle.

Charles Otegbade said: "The explosion came from inside a vehicle and it affected quite a number of people".

Read: 'At least 71 dead' in Nigeria bus station bombing

The issue of Islamic insurgency in Nigeria is temporary, the country's president said after a morning rush hour bomb killed at least 71 people at a bus station on the outskirts of the capital.

President Goodluck Jonathan pointed the finger at Boko Haram, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Islamist militants who are mainly active in the north east.

Read: Islamist group suspected in bombing of Abuja bus station

Visiting the scene, Jonathan denounced "the activities of those who are trying to move our country backwards" by staging such an attack. "We will get over it [...] The issue of Boko Haram is temporary," he said, imploring Nigerians to be more vigilant in the face of suspicious characters.

Although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility to the bomb blast, suspicion has fallen on the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The Islamists, who want to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, have in the past year mostly concentrated their attacks in the northeast, where their insurgency started.

A morning rush-hour bomb killed at least 71 people at a Nigerian bus station near the capital on Monday, over 124 others were seriously wounded.

The confirmed death toll from the bombing of a bus station near the capital Abuja is now at 71 killed and 124 wounded, police spokesman Frank Mba has said.

One eyewitness said "one particular guy was holding a bag and enters (a bus), he then steps down after a few minutes. He left and five minutes later it exploded."

A morning rush-hour bomb has killed at least 71 people at a Nigerian bus station near the capital Abuja, police said.

Body parts and blood were strewn across the station and an unruly crowd of several hundred onlookers were roaming around with security forces unable to keep them away.

Authorities said 124 people had been wounded so far in the attack.