Authorities have declared a 24-hour curfew in the Nigerian city of Kaduna after two blasts killed at least 44 people.

The first explosion on Wednesday targeted a convoy of a prominent Muslim cleric Dahuru Bauchi, leaving 25 people dead. A second blast hours later in a crowded market area killed at least 19 people, according to local police.

The Reuters news agency reported a death toll of 50 for the second blast, as witnesses also claimed a much higher figure than that provided by police.

Bauchi, a cleric who publicly criticised the Nigerian armed group Boko Haram, reportedly escaped the attack on his convoy unhurt.

The blast scattered debris and dead bodies on the Alkali Road in the city centre, but missed Bauchi, who was conducting Muslim prayers in Murtala Muhammed square, two witnesses told Reuters.

Ahmed Maiyaki, a spokesman for the state government, said a 24-hour had been imposed on Kaduna.

"The measure is aimed at forestalling breakdown of law and order," he said, adding the attacks had been carried out "by the agents of darkness".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram has been staging attacks, especially with explosives, outside its northeastern heartlands in the past three months.

source: http://www.ralphcrown.com/2014/07/curfew-imposed-after-at-least-44-killed.html