The Police in Gombe have rubbished reports making the rounds that President Goodluck Jonathan was in any way targetted in today’s bomb blast in Nigeria’s troubled North-East.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Fwaje Atajiri, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that contrary to reports on social media and other media that the blast occurred at the venue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign rally, it actually occurred near a carpenter’s shop in Kashere Street at the Water Board area in Gombe city.

Another police by Channels TV said that the bomb exploded about 200 metres (220 yards) from the stadium where President Jonathan addressed his re-election campaign rally, engulfing the car in flames.

It quoted an eyewitness as saying that the incident occurred about 30 minutes after President Jonathan left the town.

At least 18 persons are feared dead in the blast but the police only confirmed the death of a suspected female suicide bomber and another woman who was at the scene, saying that six other persons sustained various degrees of injury in the incident.

PPRO Atajiri told Channels Television that the suicide bomber detonated the device from a rickety vehicle parked in an open space as she could not get to her target.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but a terrorist group, the Boko Haram, are believed to have carried out the attack. The group had attacked Gombe several times.

On Sunday, a suicide bomb blast near a mosque in the market area killed five people and wounded eight.

•Photo shows aftermath of a car bomb.