Suicide Bombers Kill Eight People in Nigerian City of Maiduguri

(Bloomberg) -- Three suicide bombers killed eight people in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday morning, according to police. The attack happened hours after the nation delayed a general election scheduled for the same day.

Suspected militants of the Boko Haram Islamist group entered an area near a mosque with guns and explosives strapped to their bodies at about 5:40 a.m., Damian Chukwu, a police spokesman, said by text message. The three bombers also died in the attack.

Read more: Nigeria’s Last-Minute Postponement Throws Vote Into Disarray

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, the epicenter of Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency to impose its version of Shariah law on Nigeria. The northeastern city has mostly been secure in recent months, even as Boko Haram and a breakaway faction affiliated to Islamic State have wreaked havoc in the rest of Borno.

Lagos-based Channels TV reported the attack earlier.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.