Three suicide bombers killed 18 people late on Friday in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, epicentre of the Islamist militant Boko Haram insurgency, the state police commissioner said.

Damian Chukwu, Borno state police commissioner, on Saturday said the attack took place at a fish market on the outskirts of the state capital at around 8:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday and also injured 22 other people.