Explosives strapped to girl kill 20 people at Nigerian market

The police estimate differed with the local hospital’s, which counted 51 people with blast injuries.

The suicide blast happened at the main entrance of the ever-crowded Monday Market, which is the city of Maiduguri’s largest market. Around ‎12:40 p.m. on Saturday, the girl was stopped for screening by vigilantes who man the gates of the market, according to witnesses and rescuers.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State. The deadly Saturday blast came after a bloody massacre in Baga, a fishing town about 125 miles away, where Boko Haram militants killed hundreds, possibly as many as 2,000 people. That massacre has been described as Boko Haram’s deadliest act by Amnesty International.

The Islamist group, whose name translates to “Western education is sin” has said its aim is to impose a stricter form of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

CNN