At least four killed in Nigeria suicide bomb attacks

Two women were among three attackers who blew themselves up, leaving eight injured too

MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA: Three suicide bombers have killed four people and caused injury to eight others in a village near Maiduguri, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

A man and two women blew themselves up when they were challenged by a member of the civilian JTF, a government-approved militia group, just outside Maiduguri, the city worst hit by militant group Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency.

The blasts, in the village of Umariri, occurred on Saturday around 9:00pm said Maiduguri police spokesman Victor Isuku.



"Four people which include a Civilian JTF, a woman and her two children died while eight others sustained injuries," he added.

It is the latest in a string of attacks in the last few days to bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has killed around 15,000 people and forced more than 2 million to flee their homes in since 2009.

A man claiming to be the group's leader appeared in a video circulated on Friday in which he claimed responsibility for bombings in Maiduguri and a raid on the nearby town of Magumeri last week.

He also denied that 5,000 hostages held by the group
had been freed. Attacks by the banned outfit have increased since the end of the rainy season in late 2016. It also carries out cross-border attacks in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.