Blast near Nigerian church kills three

An explosion near a church outside the Nigerian capital on Sunday killed at least three people, officials said, the latest of a spate of deadly blasts to hit Africa's most populous nation.
The military meanwhile said it had killed 11 alleged members of an Islamist sect blamed for a series of attacks in a shootout in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Saturday night, but residents alleged soldiers shot civilians.
Sunday's explosion outside the All Christian Fellowship Mission was in the town of Suleija, which was also the target of a deadly bomb attack at an electoral office on the eve of April's parliamentary elections.
Police initially reported two people dead, but a Red Cross official later put the death toll at three, with seven critically wounded.
Church pastor Joseph Olowosagba said services had ended, but some members were still inside when the explosion went off outside of a window.
"We just ended service in the church and we were having a meeting," he said at the scene.
"Then we heard the explosion and some of our people were affected. As of now, two of them are dead and one is still alive, but seriously injured."
Windows on one side of the church were blown out, while a neighbouring house was also damaged.
"The explosion smashed my windows and scattered my room," said Sani Joseph, who lives next to the church. "I saw two bodies -- both of them women. The other man was seriously injured."
One man said he, his wife and child fled from the church after the blast.

"After the church service, we were making preparation for another meeting when the blast went off," Blessing Uwagbuwa said from his bed at a Suleija hospital, where he was being treated for hearing problems.
"I couldn't hear anything again and I was just seeing red. I had to run out with my wife and my child was crying."
A series of bomb blasts and other attacks occurred in the run-up to Nigeria's parliamentary, presidential and state elections in April, and have continued afterward, intensifying in recent weeks.
Much of the violence has been claimed by an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which has mainly operated in the northeastern region of the country and has previously targeted churches in a nation roughly divided in half between Christians and Muslims.
But the motive of certain attacks has been unclear, and other parts of the country, Africa's largest oil producer, have also been targeted.
Last month, a bomb tore through a car park at national police headquarters in Abuja.
Also in June, suspected Islamists tossed bombs and fired on a crowded beer garden, killing at least 25 people in Maiduguri, which has frequently seen violence blamed on Boko Haram, but rarely on such a scale.
Hundreds of troops have been deployed to Maiduguri on the orders of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The military said Sunday that 11 members of the sect were killed in a shootout the previous night in Maiduguri and two soldiers were wounded, while residents claimed that civilians were shot by troops.
The shootout followed a bomb attack on a patrol team in which "some buildings and vehicles were destroyed", according to a military statement.
Residents of the neighbourhood where the alleged sect members carried out the attack accused soldiers of shooting innocent civilians and burning homes for suspected collusion.
"The soldiers went berserk and broke into homes, shooting male residents and evicting women and setting homes ablaze as a punishment for what they called connivance with Boko Haram in attacking them," one resident told AFP by phone.
In the statement, the military task force accused residents of collaborating with Boko Haram members by allowing their premises to be used to launch attacks on security personnel.
They alleged some residents had "prior information" on Saturday's attack.
"The public is again reminded of the implication of such collaboration as it will be dealt with appropriately," said the statement.
Boko Haram -- "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language -- staged an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault which destroyed its mosque and headquarters in Maiduguri. The assault left hundreds dead.
Over the past year, the group has been blamed for a series of hit-and-run attacks, as well as bomb blasts and bank robberies. The attacks have targeted politicians, police and soldiers, along with community and religious leaders.
The group's membership and source of financing remain murky.