Four killed in Maiduguri blasts: army

Four people were killed when three suicide bombers blew themselves up in a suburb of the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the army said on Wednesday.

“The explosions occurred at three-minute intervals and seven people were confirmed dead, including the three suicide terrorists,” said army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman.

Eleven others sustained “various degrees of injuries”, he added.

The jihadist group Boko Haram has been blamed for a spate of attacks in Maiduguri and the wider northeast, aiming at “soft” civilian targets such as mosques, markets and bus stations.

The blasts happened in quick succession in the Ajilari Cross area of the city from 8:10 pm (1910 GMT) on Tuesday, according to local residents.

Ajilari Cross, located close to Maiduguri Airport and a military base on a main route into the city, has been targeted twice in the last month in similar attacks.

On October 1, at least 10 people were killed when four suicide bombers blew themselves up. On September 20, at least 117 were killed in a wave of bomb attacks.

More than 1,320 people have now been killed in Boko Haram violence since Muhammadu Buhari became president on May 29, according to an AFP tally.

The majority of attacks have been in Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital, with this month seeing an increase in the frequency of suicide bomb attacks.

Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in two satellite towns near the capital Abuja on October 2, killing 18. The police on Tuesday said they had arrested the two suspected masterminds.

Usman also said that 10 suspected militants were killed on Tuesday when troops laid ambush to rebels who attacked the military and Geidam town in the northeastern state of Yobe last week.

“They were ambushed while returning from an attack on Gajiram near Ngollom village,” he said.

Two suspected militants and a soldier were killed while another soldier was wounded on Tuesday morning in clashes at a location in Okene city in central Kogi state, Usman added.