Boko Haram kills 18 in Niger village

The attack had happened moments after another man was arrested with a bomb, according to a BBC witness.

Meanwhile, with the number of casualties yet to be officially given by the Police, the Kano Ameer of the Sect, Malam Muhammad Turi has disclosed that 21 people died in the attack.

Boko Haram, the radical Sunni jihadis who want to create a hardline Islamic state in north-east Nigeria, has previously been blamed for attacks on Shias in the region.

The group believe Shia Muslims to be heretics that must be killed.

The Muslim Brotherhood was on a procession of about 170km from Kano to Zaria.

According to the organizer, they received training at the Boko Haram camp in to Sambisa Forest before being sent to Kano eleven days beforehand.

He added, however, that the deadly blast will not deter Nigeria’s Shia community from continuing to perform its religious duties, stressing, “This will not deter us from our religious observance”.

“Boko Haram has once again sent us into mourning”, said Justice Minister and government spokesman Marou Amadou in a statement.

He said that the suicide bomber detonated a high calibre improvised explosive device.

Suspected Boko Haram militants have carried out attacks in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon in recent weeks but until Tuesday had not struck northeastern Nigeria since late October.

At least 18 people were killed and 100 homes torched in an attack in the dead of night by Nigeria’s Boko Haram fighters on a village in southeastern Niger, local authorities said on Thursday.

Two suicide bombers mingled with members of the Zaria-based Islamic Movement killing more than 20 sect members at Samawa Village in Garun Mallam LGA in Kano state.