FILE- In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 file photo, people stand behind burnt out cars following a suicide bomb attacked in Maiduguri, Nigeria. (AP)
A dog is being hailed as a hero after stopping a suicide bomber from killing wedding guests.
The guests were in the Nigerian village of Belbelo, near the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, when the teenage bomber tried to detonate her explosives.
Police spokesman Victor Isuku said the bomber, believed to be from Boko Haram, had been making her way into the wedding party on Sunday morning when the dog attacked her.
"This forced the suspect to detonate her explosive, while battling to wriggle herself from the claws and jaws of the dog," he said in a statement reported by Nigerian media.
"The dog stopped the teenage suicide bomber from detonating her strapped improvised explosive devices on the wedding crowd of people."
No guests were injured but the dog was killed by the explosion, alongside the bomber.
No further details were given about the dog, which is understood to have belonged to one of the wedding party guests.