Boko Haram killed at least five soldiers at a military base in northeast Nigeria, while suicide bombers killed three people in the city of Maiduguri, the authorities said today.<br/><br/>The weekend attacks will again prompt questions about the extent to which the Islamic State group affiliate is a spent force, as Nigeria's government has claimed.<br/><br/>There was no official claim of responsibility but the attacks bore the hallmark of Boko Haram, which has frequently hit checkpoints and security services with suicide bombers.<br/><br/>Rebel fighters, whom the military said were ousted from their Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state last month, first hit an army base in Buni Yadi in neighbouring Yobe state, at dusk on Saturday.<br/><br/>Twenty-four hours later, a wave of five suicide bombers targeted civilian vigilantes assisting the military with security in Maiduguri and elsewhere in the remote region.<br/><br/>On Sunday at about 10:30 pm (2130 GMT), two female suicide bombers killed two people in the Kaleri neighbourhood of Maiduguri, said Borno state police spokesman Victor Isuku.<br/><br/>Civilian vigilante Babakura Kolo and local residents said the targets were the homes of militia members helping the military in the area.<br/> <br/>The first bomber was aged about 20 and killed both herself and the vigilante member's teenage daughter, who answered the door.<br/><br/>The second female bomber was believed to be aged about 30 and killed the father of the vigilante, who was spending the night with his second wife, said a resident.<br/><br/>About the same time, three male suicide bombers exploded near a military checkpoint on the city limits, killing one vigilante on patrol, according to police.