Eight killed by suspected female suicide bomber in Nigeria

Maiduguri : Eight people were killed Wednesday in northeast Nigeria when a suspected female suicidebomber detonated her explosives near a camp housing displaced people, officials said. 

Police said the body of the suspected woman bomber was believed to have been among others found on the roadside in Maiduguri, the capital of northeast Borno state.

It was not immediately clear if she was counted in the official death toll.

"About eight persons lost their lives, 15 injured persons were evacuated to specialist and teaching hospitals," the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement.

A small crowd gathered following the explosion to see the charred wreckage of the yellow and green taxi cab as emergency workers moved human remains into black body bags nearby. 

The early morning blast happened close to a camp that is home to thousands of people who have fled attacks by Boko Haram jihadists since they began their bloody quest to establish an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria. 

"I am disheartened by the news of the bomb blast in Maiduguri. My condolences to the families of the victims, and the Borno State Government," said Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement on Twitter.

The bomb was detonated on a road leading to towns close to the Cameroon border that until recently were inaccessible because of Boko Haram attacks.