No fewer than nine persons were killed early today as two suicide bombers struck in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, and the heart of a seven-year-old insurgency by Islamist Boko Haram militants.

A PRNigeria report has it that nine dead bodies and 24 injured victims have been recorded so far.

The first attack occurred at 0600 GMT in front of a camp for displaced persons in the Bakassi area and minutes later a second bomb went off at a bus stop, eyewitness said.

Residents saw bodies being carried into an ambulance by government emergency services.

The bombings came 17 days after a car bomb that killed 10 people when a convoy was hit in the outskirt of the city.

The explosion at Muna garage hit the convoy with a military escort as it made its way to Gamboru Ngala.

Five persons were inside the taxi hit by the bomber.

A witness said he saw 10 corpses at the scene of the explosion, but NEMA gave a death toll of eight.

The Spokesperson of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Maiduguri, Abdulkadir Ibrahim only confirmed the efforts of rescue and health workers in the evacuation of wounded victims to Hospitals for treatment while the dead bodies have been deposited in the mortuary.

Cars in Borno State often travel in convoys organised by the military to minimise the risk of Boko Haram ambushes in rural areas.

The army has retaken much of the territory initially lost to the militants but Boko Haram still stages suicide bombing attacks and plants roadside bombs.

•Based on reports by NAN and PRNigeria.