Fresh bomb blasts in Nigeria

last of three landmark ballots that have already triggered deadly unrest.
Three bomb blasts hit the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, an area long plagued by violence blamed on an Islamist sect, but no casualties were reported, police said. No one was allowed on the streets there except to vote.
The vote comes after April 16 presidential elections led to widespread rioting across the mainly Muslim north of Africa’s most populous nation, leaving more than 500 dead, according to a local rights group.
Unrest broke out despite what some observers said appeared to be Nigeria’s cleanest vote for head of state since a return to civilian rule in 1999, with the country seeking to break from a history of deeply flawed polls.
The election won by President Goodluck Jonathan exposed deep divisions in Nigeria, particularly between the country’s economically marginalised north and predominately Christian south, home to the oil industry.
There were reports of election workers – recent university graduates who are members of the national youth service corps – refusing to turn up for duty yesterday out of fear of more attacks, with some having been previously targeted.
Some of the estimated 74 000 displaced by the riots, many of whom are living at increasingly squalid military and police barracks, expressed fears of voting. – AFP.