Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states - Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe - after a series of deadly attacks by militant groups.
Yobe state police commissioner Sanusi Rufai said it was nevertheless too early to know who was behind the attack, which happened either late on Saturday or before dawn on Sunday.
The BBC's Tomi Oladipo in Lagos says President Jonathan wants to use his trip to the states of Borno and Yobe to assert his authority in the face of the growth security threat.