A late night bomb explosion has shattered the peace in Kano, the commercial hub of northern Nigeria.

The explosion took place in the Sabon Gari area dominated by non-natives, especially Christian Igbos from the South-East.

“Bomb blast in Sabon Gari again..just now...I mean this

Night,” Kano resident Mohd Abdulkadir Mansoor wrote on his Facebook wall around midnight.

Responding to the post, an eyewitness, Abubakar Abdu Banki, said the explosion occurred “Ina Weather-head nepa qtrs by then. I saw the blast myself.”

More details were contained in a PM NEWS story, which said over 70 people died in the explosion and that it happened in a crowded entertainment spot in the city, on a busy road lined with bars in the predominantly Christian area of Sabon Giri.

The Kano incident is the second major bombing of an urban centre after the April 14 bombing of Nyanya Bus Station on the outskirts of Abuja, which killed about 75 people.

Kano police spokesman Musa Majiya said it was too early to say if the blast in the Sabon Gari or “foreign quarter” of the North’s biggest city had caused any casualties.

The blast, suspected to be by Boko Haram terrorists, brings to mind the group’s bomb attack on the inter-state luxury car park on March 18 last year, which killed over 60 Lagos-bound passengers and left dozens more injured.

•Photo shows scene of a previous blast in Kano.