Maiduguri, Nigeria – Three suicide bombers killed four people and injured eight others in a village near the north-east Nigerian city of 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 jihadist group Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency.
The blasts, in the village of Umariri around 7 kilometres from the city, occurred on Saturday, 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 said.
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 people to flee their homes in Africa's most populous nation 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.
Boko Haram, whose attacks have increased since the end of the rainy season in late 2016, wants to create a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic laws in north-east Nigeria. It also carries out cross-border attacks in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.