Suicide Bomber Hits Maiduguri Market

                    An explosion has gone off at the popular Maiduguri poultry market in which at least 10 people were killed when a young girl, thought to be aged about 10, blew herself up at a crowded market in the northeast.

Details of the incident are sketchy and the casualty rate is unclear. But the explosion has sparked panic across the Borno state capital, with some residents scampering home for safety.

Civilian vigilante Ashiru Mustapha said the powerful explosion rocked the market at about 12:40 pm when it was packed with traders and shoppers, adding that the girl "was about 10 years old".

A security source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, however said the explosive was ferried into the market by a female suicide bomber believed not to be older than 10.

“Her body was completely shattered,” he said. “Because of the high calibre explosive she strapped to her body, the upper part of her body was flung apart and found about 500 metres away.”

A Red Cross official, who declined to give his name, said: "We have so far evacuated 10 bodies to the mortuary at the (Borno) State Specialist Hospital."