KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - Bomb blasts have killed at least three people in northeast Nigeria, police said Monday, the latest unrest to hit Africa's most populous nation after presidential elections and ahead of state governorship polls. Police also said at least 15 were wounded, adding they suspected the as Boko Haram was behind the attacks on Easter Sunday night at a hotel tavern and transport hub in Maiduguri, as well as a third one on Monday morning. It was unclear whether the blasts were linked to the unrest that swept across Nigeria's north last week, leaving more than 500 dead according to a local rights group. Maiduguri has long been hit by violence blamed on the sect, which launched an uprising in 2009. "From our records the death toll has risen to three, which include a police corporal and two civilians who were at the tavern to have some drinks," police commissioner Mike Zuokumor told AFP. He said in the hotel attack 14 people, including two children playing outside its tavern, were wounded, and then there was an officer injured in Monday's attack. "We also had another bomb blast this morning targeting a police team. Two attackers on a motorbike threw a locally made bomb at the patrol van, seriously injuring a policeman on duty," said Zuokumor. The explosions at the hotel and transport hub Sunday night occurred nearly simultaneously, with the two locations not far apart. Two blasts hit the hotel and one hit the station for buses and communal taxis. Police said they suspected Boko Haram in all the attacks. The sect known as Boko Haram is seen as opposed to the ruling party in Borno state, where Maiduguri is the capital, and some of the recent violence blamed on the group is believed to have been politically motivated. Most of Nigeria's 36 states will hold governorship elections on Tuesday, including Borno, where the All Nigeria Peoples Party is in power. The party controls three states in Nigeria. "We have placed our men on the alert for the governorship tomorrow. We will not be daunted by terrorists," said Zuokumor. Boko Haram had distributed fliers earlier on Sunday warning of further attacks, saying "we are fighters waging jihad in Nigeria." The sect launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead. In recent months, it has been blamed for a series of attacks and shootings, most of them in Maiduguri. Boko Haram means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language, though the group has gone by various names. Violence had earlier marred the campaign ahead of the vote in Borno, including the assassination of one of the leading governorship candidates. At least four other explosions have hit Maiduguri in recent weeks, including one the night before the presidential election and one the day of the vote. Two explosions also hit Maiduguri on the day of the April 9 parliamentary polls. Rioting swept across northern Nigeria a week ago in the wake of the April 16 presidential election won by incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian. Jonathan's main rival was ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim from the north. Nigeria's 150 million population is roughly divided in half between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. The north has long been economically marginalised compared to the oil-rich south, helping fuel last week's riots. Despite being Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria has long been held back by deeply rooted corruption and widespread poverty remains.