At least five people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a popular mosque in the Boko Haram heartland of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

Police officials say the bomber, suspected to be a member of the Boko Haram sect, was targeting “dignitaries” who were leaving the mosque just after Friday’s prayers at about 2 p.m.

The police commissioner, Bala Hassan, said “a lone suicide bomber blew himself up while targeting some dignitaries coming back from the Friday prayers near the Shehu’s palace”.

He confirmed that the Shehu of Borno state, Alhaji Umar Garbai Abba Kyari’s palace was also assaulted in the attack that left five people dead.

Another 14 persons were injured in the attack, the Red Cross said. The injured were taken to State Specialist hospital, Red Cross Spokesman Andronicus Adeyemo said.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian-grown sect that has waged an increasingly bloody insurgency in the north and claimed over 1500 lives since 2009, is known to target security agencies and Christian places of worship in the north.