Five people were killed on Friday by a suicide bomber at a mosque in Maiduguri, Nigeria according to the police.
Islamist group Boko Haram insurgents are believed to be responsible for the bombing, the most recent in a string of attacks by the group in the area. Nigeria’s military spokesman Sagir Musa reported that six more people were injured in the blast.
Zanna Umar Mustapha, the deputy governer of Borno state, bleived that he bomb was intended to harm both him and Borno’s Shehu (regional religious leader) Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi.
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Mustapha told reporters, "The suicide bomber, who was about 15 years old, was pushed between me and the Shehu before detonating the bomb. Fortunately we both escaped unhurt." The officials were attending Muslim Friday prayers at the time.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a rash of attacks this year that killed hundreds of Nigerians. They target government and religious officials, thereby focusing on places of worship.
They are enacting an insurgency against Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in an effort to create an Islamic state in the most populous country and the largest oil producer on the continent.
Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for the attacks that left over 65 people dead last weekend in central Nigeria.
