MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, July 14 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb attack at a mosque in Nigeria left at least five people dead and six others injured, officials said.
The bombing happened near the Central Mosque in Maiduguri in Borno state Friday, the (Nigerian) Daily Times reported.
The suicide bomber killed himself and five others, officials said.
"Five people have been killed and six others injured in the Maiduguri Central Mosque suicide bomb attack," said Sagir Musa, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force in the state.
Alhaji Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, the Shehu of Borno, was praying at the mosque at the time of the attack and appeared to be the prime target, The Nation reported.
"The suicide bomber, who was about 15 years old, was pushed between me and the Shehu before detonating the bomb. Fortunately we both escaped unhurt," the deputy governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zanna Umar Mustapha, said. "It was God that saved me and the Shehu, otherwise we would have been dead by now."
The attack was believed to have been committed by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which seeks to overthrow the Nigerian government.
"The attack on the Shehu's Mosque has shown that Boko Haram itself is not helping to propagate Islam contrary to the messages that had been churned out by the sect," Senate President David said.
