A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people at a mosque in Mubi, Adamawa State on Tuesday in the biggest mass killing this year by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
Adamawa police spokesman, Abubakar Othman, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.
Abubakar said that a young boy was responsible for the blast which occurred during the early morning prayer.
“We have 50 dead and we are now trying to get the exact number of those injured,” Abubakar said.
Reuters also quoted him as saying “there could be more as those seriously injured could add to the figure.”
NAN reports that the attack happened in Dazala area of Mubi town in Adamawa on Tuesday around 5 a.m. when Muslims were observing the early morning prayer.
The incident was the first in three years since the liberation of Mubi town from Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.
Boko Haram typically mounts suicide attacks in crowded public places such as mosques and markets.
Fifty-six people were killed in Adamawa last December, when two schoolgirl suicide bombers struck in a coordinated attack on a crowded market.
Boko Haram has waged an insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009 in its attempt to create an Islamic state in the region, killing more than 20,000 and forcing around 2 million people to flee their homes.
Most attacks by the group focus on Borno state, the birthplace of the insurgency. The group held a swathe of land around the size of Belgium in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states until early 2015 but were forced out by Nigeria’s army backed by troops from neighbouring countries.
