18 Killed In Serial Suicide Bomb Blast In Northeast Nigeria

The military has imposed a curfew while no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

18 people were killed in a serial suicide bombing in Nigeria.

Source : X/@HQNigerianArmy

At least 18 people were killed and 30 were injured in a series of deadly blasts in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, said the officials. One of the suspected bombings killed six people and wounded others during a wedding ceremony on Saturday. 

According to the state's emergency management agency, the suspected suicide bombers attacked a wedding, funeral, and a hospital in the town of Gowza, reported BBC. 

The state of Borno has been at the centre of a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram Islamist militants, resulting in the displacement of over two million people and the killing of more than 40,000. The outfit gained notoriety in 2014 when it kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in the same state. 

Authorities said that 18 deaths were confirmed on Saturday which included children, adults and pregnant women.

However, the local media reported a higher toll with Nigeria's Vanguard and This Day newspapers saying at least 30 had been killed in the blasts.

The military has imposed a curfew while no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

The director general of Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Dr. Barkindo Muhammad Saidu visited the site of the blast in Gwoza Town, reported CNN.

The town of Gowza was seized by the Boko Haram militants in 2014 and was taken back by the Nigerian forces in 2015, but the group has since continued to carry out attacks and kidnappings near the town. 

In November last year, 20 people were killed by the Boko Haram insurgents while returning from a funeral service in neighbouring Yobe state.

The attack came a day after 17 people were killed by militants in a  raid on Gurokayeya village, after villagers refused to pay a so-called harvest tax, police said.