PRESS ASSOCIATION -- At least 16 people have died in a car bomb attack on the United Nations' offices in Nigeria's capital of Abuja.
Nigerian Red Cross official Umar Mairiga, said at least 11 others were injured but he believes the casualty figure will be much higher.
Witnesses said a sedan broke through the exit at the UN compound, ramming through two separate gates as guards tried to stop the vehicle.
The suicide bomber inside crashed the car into the main reception of the building before detonating, inflicting the most damage possible.
The building houses about 400 employees of the UN in Nigeria, including the majority of its offices. A local UN spokesman declined to comment.
Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the UN office in Geneva, said the global body's offices in Abuja had been bombed. She said that there was no word yet on casualties.
The building, in the same neighbourhood as the US embassy and other diplomatic posts in Abuja, had a huge hole punched in it.
Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood confirmed the blast, but said police were still investigating the cause.
No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but oil-rich Nigeria faces terrorism threats on multiple fronts.
Last year, a militant group from the country's crude-producing Niger Delta blew up car bombs in the capital during Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary ceremony, killing at least 12.