Trending 
An explosion ripped through a mosque in Maiduguri and killed at least seven worshippers on Wednesday, witnesses and security sources told AFP.
The bomb went off inside a crowded mosque in the city’s Gamboru market, as Muslim faithful gathered for evening prayers around 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), according to witnesses.
One of the leaders of the mosque, Malam Abuna Yusuf, put the toll at eight dead, though officials have not yet released the number of casualties.
“We can confirm there has been an explosion,” police spokesman Nahum Daso told AFP, adding that an explosive ordnance disposal team was already on-site.
No armed groups immediately claimed responsibility for what anti-jihadist militia leader Babakura Kolo said was a suspected bombing.
Kolo said that seven were killed.
He added that it was suspected that the bomb was placed inside the mosque and exploded midway through prayers, while some witnesses described a suicide bombing.
It was not immediately clear how many people were injured, though witness Isa Musa Yusha’u told AFP: “I saw many victims being taken away for medical treatment.”
A security alert sent by an international Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) to its staff in Maiduguri, seen by AFP, advised its workers to stay away from the Gamboru market area.
Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, home to a years-long insurgency by terrorist groups Boko Haram and an offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, though the city itself has not seen a major attack in years.
