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Africa
26 April 2012 Last updated at 09:50 ET
Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper hit by Abuja and Kaduna blasts
Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper has been hit by bombs in Abuja and Kaduna At least three people have been killed in an explosion at the offices of a major newspaper in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, emergency workers have said.
Another three deaths have been reported in a separate blast at the paper's offices in the northern Kaduna city.
Witnesses say at least one was a suicide bombing, but officials say it is too early to say.
No-one has said it carried out the blasts although the Islamist group Boko Haram has staged similar attacks.
'Sketchy details'
Both blasts are reported to have occurred at around 11:30 GMT at the Abuja and Kaduna offices of the ThisDay newspaper, a leading daily.
"Start Quote
The guy drove in through the gate and rammed into the building and exploded"
End Quote Olusegun Adeniyi ThisDay's editorial board chairman
Details remain sketchy but several witnesses, including the chairman of ThisDay's editorial board, said the blasts were the result of a suicide attack.
"The suicide bomber came in a jeep," Olusegun Adeniyi told reporters at the scene in Abuja.
"(Security guards) opened the gate for them... The guy drove in through the gate and rammed into the building and exploded," Mr Adeniyi said.
However, a spokesperson for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency earlier said the Abuja blast appeared to be caused by a bomb planted inside the building.
As more conflicting information emerged, the unnamed spokesperson said it was too early to draw firm conclusions, AFP news agency reported.
The Kaduna explosion happened outside a complex housing a number of newspapers, including ThisDay.
A suspect has been arrested and is thought to be a member of the Boko Haram group, AFP reports police as saying.
Police and paramilitary forces have cordoned off both offices, while emergency workers evacuated the injured and removed the bodies of those who died, witnesses say.
"The ceiling of our building collapsed on to our computers because of the force of the blast," an Abuja office worker in the building next door to ThisDay told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Boko Haram - whose name means "Western education is forbidden" - wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria and has launched a series of deadly attacks across the country, including the capital, in the past 19 months.
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