Three suspected suicide bombers targeted a crowded market, hospital entrance and business hub in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria, killing 23 people and injuring more than 100
At least 23 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded following suspected suicide bombings that struck Maiduguri city in north-eastern Nigeria.
Locals and emergency services informed the Associated Press that three blasts were reported in busy areas across Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, including at a major market and near the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“Regrettably, a total of 23 persons lost their lives, whilst 108 others sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Borno police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso said in a statement that blamed the attacks on suspected suicide bombers.
No organisation has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion swiftly turned to the Boko Haram jihadi group, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria to enforce their radical interpretation of Shariah law.
Boko Haram has since grown more powerful, with thousands of fighters and different factions, including the Islamic State West Africa Province, which is backed by the so-called Islamic State group.
Maiduguri city has been at the centre of the lethal violence but has in recent years enjoyed relative calm even as the countryside is frequently devastated by extremists.
The assault occurred less than 24 hours after the Nigerian military repelled attacks by militants on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in what some locals suggest could have been planned as a distraction.
By Tuesday morning, there was a heavy security deployment in the affected Locations and major roads in the city have seen increased security, but many public spaces remain shut due to heightened fear. “Investigations are ongoing to further ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice,” stated the Borno police command.
The initial explosion occurred around 7.30pm at the entrance of the teaching hospital, with the second and third detonations following shortly after at the popular Monday market and nearby Post Office business hub, both situated approximately 2.5 miles from the hospital.
Eyewitnesses described the ensuing chaos at the scenes and hospitals as security forces and emergency services swiftly intervened. “This attack has been one of the deadliest in Maiduguri in years,” commented Mohammed Hassan, a member of a volunteer group aiding security forces in combating extremists.
“We’re in dire need of blood,” he said, describing the situation hours post-attack.
The extremists have escalated their attacks against Nigerian military bases in recent weeks, killing numerous senior officers and soldiers, and stripping the bases of weaponry and ammunition stocks.
The multiple attacks could be perceived as a significant victory for the jihadis in a city considered impregnable despite the jihadis frequently targeting troops and villages on the city’s outskirts.
Previous attacks in the city have been isolated incidents, including a suicide attack that claimed five lives at a mosque on Christmas Eve last year. “Maiduguri being attacked is like an insult for the security forces … and for the (jihadi) groups, it is symbolic because it shows nowhere is out of their reach,” said Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.