Nigeria elections: Polls to open after deadly attacks

09 April BBC

Nigerians are preparing to vote in parliamentary elections marred by bloody attacks and chaotic delays.On Friday, a bomb blast at the election commission's office in the central town of Suleja killed at least six people.

In the north-eastern state of Borno, gunmen shot dead four people at a police station where election officials were preparing voting materials.

Several other bombs were defused by the security forces, who had earlier warned of a plot to disrupt the elections.

Voting - for 360 seats in the lower chamber, and 109 in the Senate - had already begun last Saturday, and millions were queuing, when it was discovered that ballot papers were missing in some parts of the country, prompting delays due to the difficulty of replacing ballot papers.

Various issues have resulted in three separate announcements of postponements, while the elections for president and state governors have also been set back.