Three suicide bombers in a motorised rickshaw, yesterday, detonated explosives at a checkpoint at Yamarkumi village, four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the town of Biu, Borno State.
The suicide attack killed 38 people and injured 20, a source at the Biu General Hospital told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“Most of the victims were child vendors and beggars that usually crowd the checkpoint to sell wares and beg for alms,” the source added.
Boko Haram has repeatedly tried to seize the Biu, 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, but has been repelled by troops and local vigilantes.
Some four hours later, in Potiskum, the economic capital of neighbouring Yobe state, a bomber blew himself up inside Al-Amir restaurant, a popular chain in northern Nigeria.
The restaurant manager and a steward were killed, while 13 staff and customers were seriously injured, a police officer and nurse the Potiskum General Hospital said.
The bombings followed a raid late Monday in the Borno town of Askira Uba, some 25 kilometres south of Chibok, from where rebel gunmen kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last April.
Residents said homes and public buildings were razed, including the palace of the local chief, and hundreds of people were forced to flee.
Aliyu Abdullahia, who fled to the nearby town of Mubi, claimed that soldiers “refused to deploy” from Chibok, where they have been stationed since a Boko Haram attack in September last year.
