America News Agency

Nahum Daso told local media that the explosion, which occurred during the evening prayer at the Gamboru market in the state capital Maiduguri, also injured 35 people.

Unverified social media footage shows people standing in a market covered in dust after the explosion.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but militants had previously targeted mosques and crowded places in the region with suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Maiduguri is at the heart of the insurgency led by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and its affiliate, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP).

The military operations launched by Boko Haram to establish an Islamic caliphate in Borno State began in 2009.

Security measures taken against the group have been unable to prevent the sporadic attacks on civilians in northeastern Nigeria.