Nigerian authorities have arrested two suspected Boko Haram members who were found travelling with a young girl with explosives attached to her, the Nigerian government has announced.

According to government spokesman Mike Omeri, the two suspects had been travelling with the girl in a Honda CRV car heading towards Katsina state in the north of the country.

He said that after being stopped, the young girl had a high level of explosives strapped to her waist. Following the discovery, both men tried to escape but were quickly caught and arrested.

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In a statement Omeri said: "Ten-year old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt and, immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt to escape with the car, but were later blocked by other concerned Nigerians and subsequently arrested."

The news of the interception of the girl came on the same day that two students were killed and eight more were injured in a suicide bombing at a university in Kano in the north west of Nigeria.

On Wednesday, Nigerian news website Information Nigeria reported that a female student had blown herself up at Kano’s Northern State Polytechnic.

According to reports, students were checking their National Youth Service Corps results, when the student decided to detonate the explosives, dying instantly and killing two others.

A report in the Los Angeles Times said that this attack was the fourth female suicide bombing in the Kano region in a week, with each one reportedly linked to the terrorist group Boko Haram.

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Show all 35 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls 1/35 Nigeria A total of 276 girls were abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing 2/35 Nigeria One of the kidnapped girls looks into a camera 3/35 Nigeria One of the missing girls talking to the camera 4/35 Nigeria The missing Nigerian schoolgirls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location. Boko Haram alleging they had converted them to Islam 5/35 Nigeria Girls wearing the full-length hijab holding a flag reading "There is no god, but Allah" and "Mohammed is Allah's prophet" 6/35 Nigeria A man claiming to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau 7/35 Nigeria Abubakar Shekau speaks on the video 8/35 Nigeria Girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying are filmed by an unidentified man (R) in an undisclosed rural location 9/35 Nigeria Soldiers lead the way as Chibok residents carry placards to protest the abduction of the missing schoolgirls in Maiduguri 10/35 Nigeria People carry signs as they attend a protest demanding the release of abducted secondary school girls in the remote village of Chibok in Lagos 11/35 UK Demonstrators hold banners as they protest about the kidnapping of girls in Nigeria, near the Nigerian High Commission in London 12/35 UK A protester demonstrates against the kidnapping of school girls in Nigeria, outside the Nigerian Embassy in London 13/35 UK Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and Prime Minister David Cameron appearing on the BBC1 current affairs programme 14/35 USA People participate in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles 15/35 USA Girls holding heart shaped banners in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles 16/35 South Africa South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg 17/35 South Africa The kidnapping has ignited a viral social media campaign that has brought renewed attention to Boko Haram's campaign of violence, and protests around the world 18/35 South Africa Some of the hundreds of protests demonstrate outside the Nigeria Consulate to bring attention to the girls abducted in Nigeria, Johannesburg 19/35 South Africa South Africans from various civil society organisations protest in support of the Nigerian abducted Chibok school girls outside the South African parliament in Cape Town 20/35 Sri Lanka Participants chant slogans and hold placards during a protest to demand the return of hundreds of school girls abducted by the Boko Haram separatist group at the World Conference on Youth 2014, hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo 21/35 USA Karilyn Coates (10) joins others in a candlelight vigil for the more than 300 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs 22/35 USA Mia Kuumba, of the District of Columbia, brandishes a wooden stick during a rally in front of the Nigerian embassy in northwest Washington 23/35 Nigeria Mothers of the missing Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram Islamists gather to receive informations from officials. Nigeria's president said that Boko Haram's mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls would mark a turning point in the battle against the Islamists, as world powers joined the search to rescue the hostages 24/35 Nigeria Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima (C) weeps as she speaks with school girls from the government secondary school Chibok that were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and later escaped in Chibok 25/35 Nigeria Leader of Chibok community in Abuja Hosea Sambido (R) raises a newspaper reporting the death of two of the abducted Chibok school girls during a rally pressing for the girls' release in Abuja, ahead of World Economic Forum 26/35 Nigeria Femi Falana, a lawyer and human rights activist (C) leads a mass-demonstration calling on the government to increase efforts to rescue the hundreds of missing kidnapped school girls of a government secondary school Chibok in Lagos 27/35 Nigeria Members of Lagos based civil society groups shout slogans calling for the release of missing Chibok school girls at the state government house in Lagos 28/35 Nigeria The Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for abducting over 200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state. Nigerian police offered a reward of 50 million naira (about 310,000 US dollar) to anyone providing a lead on the whereabouts of the more than 200 school girls abducted by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted an offer of help from the United States in tracking down and fighting the terrorists, US officials said 29/35 Nigeria Nigerians protest over the government's failure to rescue the abducted Chibok school girls in Port Harcourt 30/35 Nigeria Former Nigerian Education Minister and Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa division (3rd L) Obiageli Ezekwesilieze speaks as she leads a march of Nigeria women and mothers of the kidnapped girls of Chibok, calling for their freedom in Abuja 31/35 Bring Back Our Girls Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of her supporting the #BringBackOurGirls campaign Twitter 32/35 Bring Back Our Girls Malala joined calls for the kidnapped girls to be found Twitter/Malala Fund 33/35 Bring Back Our Girls Leona lewis supports #BringBackOurGirls campaign 34/35 Bring Back Our Girls Kelly Hoppen tweeted: 'Please make sure you do this, we must stand together and not forget them' 35/35 Bring Back Our Girls E.L. Rock Star tweeted: 'Join The Movement' 1/35 Nigeria A total of 276 girls were abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing 2/35 Nigeria One of the kidnapped girls looks into a camera 3/35 Nigeria One of the missing girls talking to the camera 4/35 Nigeria The missing Nigerian schoolgirls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location. Boko Haram alleging they had converted them to Islam 5/35 Nigeria Girls wearing the full-length hijab holding a flag reading "There is no god, but Allah" and "Mohammed is Allah's prophet" 6/35 Nigeria A man claiming to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau 7/35 Nigeria Abubakar Shekau speaks on the video 8/35 Nigeria Girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying are filmed by an unidentified man (R) in an undisclosed rural location 9/35 Nigeria Soldiers lead the way as Chibok residents carry placards to protest the abduction of the missing schoolgirls in Maiduguri 10/35 Nigeria People carry signs as they attend a protest demanding the release of abducted secondary school girls in the remote village of Chibok in Lagos 11/35 UK Demonstrators hold banners as they protest about the kidnapping of girls in Nigeria, near the Nigerian High Commission in London 12/35 UK A protester demonstrates against the kidnapping of school girls in Nigeria, outside the Nigerian Embassy in London 13/35 UK Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and Prime Minister David Cameron appearing on the BBC1 current affairs programme 14/35 USA People participate in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles 15/35 USA Girls holding heart shaped banners in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles 16/35 South Africa South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg 17/35 South Africa The kidnapping has ignited a viral social media campaign that has brought renewed attention to Boko Haram's campaign of violence, and protests around the world 18/35 South Africa Some of the hundreds of protests demonstrate outside the Nigeria Consulate to bring attention to the girls abducted in Nigeria, Johannesburg 19/35 South Africa South Africans from various civil society organisations protest in support of the Nigerian abducted Chibok school girls outside the South African parliament in Cape Town 20/35 Sri Lanka Participants chant slogans and hold placards during a protest to demand the return of hundreds of school girls abducted by the Boko Haram separatist group at the World Conference on Youth 2014, hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo 21/35 USA Karilyn Coates (10) joins others in a candlelight vigil for the more than 300 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs 22/35 USA Mia Kuumba, of the District of Columbia, brandishes a wooden stick during a rally in front of the Nigerian embassy in northwest Washington 23/35 Nigeria Mothers of the missing Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram Islamists gather to receive informations from officials. Nigeria's president said that Boko Haram's mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls would mark a turning point in the battle against the Islamists, as world powers joined the search to rescue the hostages 24/35 Nigeria Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima (C) weeps as she speaks with school girls from the government secondary school Chibok that were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and later escaped in Chibok 25/35 Nigeria Leader of Chibok community in Abuja Hosea Sambido (R) raises a newspaper reporting the death of two of the abducted Chibok school girls during a rally pressing for the girls' release in Abuja, ahead of World Economic Forum 26/35 Nigeria Femi Falana, a lawyer and human rights activist (C) leads a mass-demonstration calling on the government to increase efforts to rescue the hundreds of missing kidnapped school girls of a government secondary school Chibok in Lagos 27/35 Nigeria Members of Lagos based civil society groups shout slogans calling for the release of missing Chibok school girls at the state government house in Lagos 28/35 Nigeria The Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for abducting over 200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state. Nigerian police offered a reward of 50 million naira (about 310,000 US dollar) to anyone providing a lead on the whereabouts of the more than 200 school girls abducted by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted an offer of help from the United States in tracking down and fighting the terrorists, US officials said 29/35 Nigeria Nigerians protest over the government's failure to rescue the abducted Chibok school girls in Port Harcourt 30/35 Nigeria Former Nigerian Education Minister and Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa division (3rd L) Obiageli Ezekwesilieze speaks as she leads a march of Nigeria women and mothers of the kidnapped girls of Chibok, calling for their freedom in Abuja 31/35 Bring Back Our Girls Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of her supporting the #BringBackOurGirls campaign Twitter 32/35 Bring Back Our Girls Malala joined calls for the kidnapped girls to be found Twitter/Malala Fund 33/35 Bring Back Our Girls Leona lewis supports #BringBackOurGirls campaign 34/35 Bring Back Our Girls Kelly Hoppen tweeted: 'Please make sure you do this, we must stand together and not forget them' 35/35 Bring Back Our Girls E.L. Rock Star tweeted: 'Join The Movement'

On Sunday, a 15-year-old female blew herself up near a temporary university site, resulting in five police officers suffering minor injuries. On Monday another female suicide bomber detonated a bomb that killed at least three others as they queued to buy kerosene.

This was followed a few hours later by a suicide bombing in a shopping mall, involving an 18-year-old woman.

In a statement released on Monday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said that the increasing use of female suicide bombers was “a new low in the inhuman campaign” of Boko Haram, and was “wicked exploitation” of girls.