A female suicide bomber set off her explosives and the other was killed by troops outside the north-eastern Nigerian town of Maiduguri, where a twin suicide attack last week killed 25 people, vigilantes said. The two were spotted by civilian vigilantes helping the military fight the Boko Haram Islamist group at Molai around 1:00 am, vigilante Babakura Kolo told AFP.
"When the vigilantes flashed their torchlights on them and demanded to know their identities, one of the women detonated her explosives while the other one ran and hid in an abandoned building," he said. He said soldiers rushed to the scene on hearing the explosion where they joined the vigilantes in searching for the other bomber. She was found holed up in the building and the soldiers "shot and killed her because she was trying to set off her explosives", said Kolo, whose account was supported by Musa Ari, another vigilante. Army spokesman Sani Usman confirmed the incident.