At least 10 people were killed when three suicide bombers blew themselves up in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, a town elder said on Wednesday.
Ayuba Chibok said the blasts happened at about midday as the remote town in Borno state was packed with traders from surrounding villages for the weekly market.
“They were suicide attacks. The first bomber set off his explosives at the checkpoint where people coming into the town were being searched,” he added.
“A second bomber managed to get into the market and blew himself up. A third bomber was identified and residents pursued him.
“When he realised he was about to be apprehended he detonated his explosives in an area not far from the market”. Chibok added: “The casualty toll is not conclusive but so far, at least 10 people have been confirmed dead and over 30 injured”.
The blasts bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has repeatedly hit “soft” civilian targets such as markets, mosques and bus stations as well as military and civilian vigilante checkpoints.
Chibok came to prominence in April 2014 when Islamist fighters stormed a boarding school and kidnapped 276 girls, causing global outrage.
Fifty-seven girls managed to escape in the immediate aftermath but 219 are still being held and have not been seen since they appeared in a Boko Haram video in May that year.