23 killed as coordinated attacks rock Maiduguri, Army warns more bombers still in city
Maiduguri had not seen anything like this since 2021. On Monday evening, as residents broke their Ramadan fast, three bombs detonated simultaneously across the Borno State capital, killing 23 people, injuring 108, and shattering years of fragile peace in a city once defined by daily violence.
The blasts struck the Monday Market, the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and the Post Office Flyover at approximately 7:24 p.m., timed to hit the densest crowds of the evening.
The military described the attacks as “cowardly” and said they were designed to “inflict mass casualties and create panic within the metropolis.”
But the evening bombings were not the beginning. Hours earlier, around midnight Sunday, insurgents launched an attack on a Nigerian military post in Ajilari Cross, a southwestern suburb of Maiduguri, just kilometres from the city’s airport.
That same night, a separate attack struck the Damboa local government area south of the city. Security forces said they repelled both, with no military casualties confirmed, but by nightfall, the bombers had already made it inside the city.
Now the army is warning that the threat is not over. Preliminary information indicates that the terrorists may have deployed multiple suicide bombers into Maiduguri with the intention of carrying out coordinated suicide bombings at crowded locations. Security forces have since intensified surveillance, patrols, and counter-IED operations across the metropolis to track down any remaining suspects.
A hospital official told the Associated Press they were in dire need of blood donations, describing it as one of the deadliest attacks on Maiduguri in years. Emergency responders from NEMA and the Borno State Emergency Management Agency evacuated the injured to the General Hospital, Specialist Hospital, and UMTH. Police EOD units swept all three blast sites.
Borno Governor Babagana Zulum, in Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj, condemned the attacks in a statement. He described them as “utterly condemnable, barbaric and inhumane,” adding that targeting civilians and places of worship was unacceptable, especially during a period of devotion.
He linked the surge in attacks to intensified military operations in the Sambisa forest and other insurgent hideouts, while assuring residents that security agencies had the situation under control.
The Borno Police Command says 23 are confirmed dead, though an anti-jihadist militia member told AFP the death toll could be as high as 31. Investigations are ongoing.
Monday’s attacks follow a December mosque bombing in Maiduguri that killed seven, and coordinated attacks on several military bases in the northeast last week that killed at least 14 people, including 10 soldiers. Boko Haram and ISWAP’s 16-year campaign to establish a caliphate has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million.
Last month, the United States began deploying troops to Nigeria to provide technical and training support in fighting jihadist groups, with US Africa Command expecting 200 soldiers in total. It may not be enough — or it may have come too late to prevent what happened on Monday night.
Additional reporting from agencies. Investigations ongoing
