At least 10 people were killed in multiple explosions that rocked Maiduguri, Borno State, residents told AFP.
They told the agency that loud explosions were heard from Kayamla and Dalori areas of the city, three days after Maiduguri was attacked by the insurgents, leaving 10 dead and many more injured.
“The explosions were heard from Kayamla and Dalori along Bama Road since around 7am today (yesterday),” Kursi Yusuf, an employee at the nearby University of Maiduguri, told AFP.
“We are not sure whether the terrorists are planning to invade the town, but the sound vibrating is devastating,” he added.
Khadija Mustapha, a resident of Dalori Quarters, 11 kilometres from Maiduguri, said she had fled her home with her three daughters for fear of being caught in the explosions.
“I don’t know what will happen. The sound of the explosives is really disturbing. Many of us have vacated our homes.”
Earlier, the military alleged that the Sunday explosions in Maiduguri were routine equipment testing.
The spokesman for the 7th division of the Nigerian army, Tukur Gusau, told NAN that the loud sound that scared people was caused by routine testing of military equipment.
“It is a routine test firing of our weapons to ensure that they are in a state of readiness.”
Maiduguri was attacked on Independence Day, October 1, when suicide bombers detonated their devices simultaneously near the house of a vigilante leader at a popular public gathering around a tea seller’s joint.
Suicide bomber kills 10 in Niger Republic
Ten people have been reported killed in a double suicide attack across a border in Niger, security sources told Hausa service of the BBC.
Sources told the news agency that the attackers detonated their explosives in Diffa region killing a military personnel, five civilians and the suicide bombers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility though suspicion immediately fell upon Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and carried out scores of attacks in neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad in recent months.
A resident, Aboubacar Halilou, said that he was coming out of his house in the town of Diffa when he saw four young men walk past.
“They had their hands on their stomachs, walking in the rain in the direction of the police station,” Halilou said.
“The three others started to flee, and another officer who was there shot and killed one of them at the scene. The two others ran in an effort to reach town. There was a real chase but the officers finally caught them,” he said.
The Nigerian terror group has repeatedly struck Diffa in neighbouring Niger Republic over the past year because Niger’s military is among those taking part in a regional effort to defeat the extremists.
Niger is also home to more than 138,000 refugees who have fled Boko Haram’s attacks in Nigeria, according to U.N. figures.
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