Suicide bomber explodes at northeast Nigeria church, 5 dead

“So, if Boko Haram opts for negotiation, the government will not be averse to it”, he said.

Scores of people have been killed in Zabarmari village, 10 kilometres from Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, north east Nigeria after at least six female suicide bombers loyal to the Boko Haram terror group blew themselves in the middle of a huge crowd. A police officer told AFP news agency that four people were killed instantly and that a fifth died later in hospital. “The victims included a woman and her two children, the pastor and another worshipper”, added the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Garba Manu told AFP the bomber arrived at the church on a motorised rickshaw disguised as a worshipper and detonated his explosives as soon as he entered the church.

He has already condemned the recent attacks as barbaric and said they underscore the need for an expanded multinational army to crush the extremists.

“I saw him walking in and he didn’t raise any suspicion”, Manu said.

Potiskum, like many towns in Nigeria’s North-East region, has been the target of suicide bomb attacks that are characteristic of similar attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.

Sunday’s attack is the second launched in Yobe State, since the commencement of the Holy month of Ramadan.

Jonathan said this on his official Facebook page on Sunday while reacting to the Church bombing in Yobe which left over six people dead.

Boko Haram took over a large swath of northeastern Nigeria previous year and stepped up cross-border raids.

While these claims have not been independently verified, human rights organisation Amnesty worldwide says their research also indicates that some girls kidnapped by Boko Haram have been trained to fight.

The wave of attacks was the bloodiest since Buhari came to power in May, vowing to root out the insurgency that has claimed more than 15,000 lives with 1.5 million people fleeing their homeless.