Suspected suicide bombings terrorize Maiduguri, Nigeria

Terrorists said to be members of Islamic extremist group Boko Haram on Monday (March 16) bombed three areas of Maiduguri, Borno state in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others, sources said. 

Residents told Christian Daily International that the terrorists, suspected suicide bombers, set of explosions at about 7 p.m. at the Post Office and Monday Market areas of the city. An explosion reportedly also went off at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, to which the dead and wounded were being evacuated.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but officials in Nigeria said they were carried out by “suspected Boko Haram terrorist suicide bombers” using Improvised Explosive Devices.

Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, has long been plagued by violence from Boko Haram and other terrorists.

Video clips of the attacks showed chaos as city residents scampered from a bombed area.

“Two explosions occurred in the Post Office and Monday Market areas in the city,” a resident is heard saying in the video. Another resident says in a separate video, “Can you imagine seeing pieces of human flesh scattered across the streets and affected areas.”

A local online radio station, Ndarason FM, reported explosions occurring at the Maiduguri Monday market, the largest in the region, the crowded Post Office area and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. 

“Eyewitnesses at the hospital say many dead bodies and critically injured victims have been rushed to the emergency unit,” the station reported. “The attacks come as Maiduguri residents are still reeling from an insurgent attack at Kofa community in the suburbs just 24 hours prior.”

Resident Esther Zamdai told Christian Daily International that Improvised Explosive Devices were used in the attacks.

Police issued a statement staying clearance operations by the Borno State Police Command EOD Unit were underway at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the Maiduguri Monday Market, and that there was a Post Office flyover following three suspected suicide bomb incidents. 

“Normalcy has been restored,” said police spokesperson Nahum Daso Kenneth. “Residents of Maiduguri are advised to remain calm and maintain vigilance.”

The Guardian Newspaper noted that 10 years ago this month, terrorists killed 58 people and injured more than 140 others in four separate suicide blasts.

Violence by Boko Haram and its offshoots, including the Islamic West Africa Province (ISWAP) have killed thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million in the region in their fight to establish an Islamic caliphate.

Founded in 2002, Boko Haram intensified attacks after the extrajudicial killing of its then leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in July 2009.

“Until a Christmas Eve bombing at a mosque killed at least five people and wounded dozens more last year, there had not been a major attack since 2021 in the city,” The Guardian reported. “The mosque attack happened a day before airstrikes by the US in conjunction with Nigeria against Islamic State militants in the north-west.”

Borno Gov. Babagana Zulum in April warned that Islamic extremist groups were returning to the area in force.

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday morning (March 17), while on a state visit to the United Kingdom, directed security chiefs to relocate to Maiduguri “to take charge of the situation” and “locate them, confront them and completely defeat them.”

More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, according to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during that period, 3,490 – 72 percent – were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.