Nigeria's military claimed to have destroyed Boko Haram's headquarters in Gwoza, a town in northeastern Nigeria.

It was not possible to verify Friday's victory, which came the day before critical presidential elections. However, the claim came from the official Twitter account of the Nigerian Defense Headquarters.

Gwoza is the town from which the group declared their caliphate last year.

In a televised address on Friday, President Goodluck Jonathan said no political ambition could justify violence or bloodshed, adding that security measures had been taken to guarantee a free and fair election.

On March 28, Jonathan will face former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigerians stockpiling cash, fuel and food

People are not only stockpiling cash, but also fuel.

The Nigerian president warned against violence ahead of Saturday's presidential elections, as people began stockpiling food, cash and fuel for fear of clashes.

In the capital, Abuja, long queues formed outside the banks. Queues for fuel also stretched for hundreds of meters in cities across the country.

The rise of the Islamist group Boko Haram has put security at the center of the election campaigns in Nigeria.

There was no mention of the Sambisa forest, where the extremists first took nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok, in Borno state, nearly a year ago.

ra/kms (Reuters, AFP, AP)