The two other bombers followed minutes later, resulting in the injured, an armed militia leader said, noting that the attack came “hours after reports of sighting of a lot of Boko Haram members outside the city.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The Boko Haram conflict has left at least 20,000 dead and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
Roads to and from Maiduguri are nominally open to traffic, but in reality, vehicles require a military escort because of the risk of attack.
Nigeria’s military and government maintain that Boko Haram is a spent force as a result of sustained counterinsurgency operations against the militants since early 2015.
Deadly attacks have dropped in recent weeks, which security sources attribute to renewed military offensives after the end of the rainy season in September. ref: AFP
Boko Haram and Why Nigeria is concerned about the Trump presidency. By Chido Nwangwu
