MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—A bomb exploded in a busy neighborhood in Nigeria’s restive northeast, killing at least eight people, a witness said Sunday.

Badigma Bukar, 45, whose armed was injured in Saturday’s attack, told The Associated Press by telephone that he saw eight dead bodies after the explosion near the palace of an important traditional ruler in Maiduguri.

A worker at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said two dead bodies were taken to the hospital morgue.

Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed, a spokesman for security forces specially deployed to rein in a feared sect in the area, refused to confirm on Sunday that there were deaths.

The sect known as Boko Haram is responsible for a rash of killings and bombings over the past year which have targeted members of Nigeria’s security force, as well as traditional and religious authorities.

The group, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege,” has asked for the strict implementation of Islam across Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated north and the prosecution of officials blamed for the death of their leader, Mohammed Yusuf. He died in 2009 while in police custody.