MAIDUGURI: At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 others injured after a series of explosions, believed to be carried out by suicide bombers, struck the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, police confirmed on Tuesday.
According to police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso, preliminary findings indicate that the coordinated attacks were executed by suspected suicide bombers. He stated that 23 people lost their lives while 108 others sustained injuries of varying severity.
The explosions occurred on Monday evening and came shortly after an earlier assault on a military outpost overnight between Sunday and Monday, which authorities have attributed to suspected armed groups.
According to Arab News, the latest violence has disrupted a period of relative stability in Maiduguri, once considered a safer zone amid Nigeria’s prolonged armed tensions. In recent years, the conflict had largely shifted away from major urban centres to more remote rural areas.
However, armed groups such as Boko Haram and its rival faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have intensified their activities in the region. Their violent activities, ongoing for over a decade and a half, have claimed more than 40,000 lives and forced approximately two million people from their homes.
Eyewitness accounts from a local hospital described chaotic scenes, with dozens of injured victims arriving for treatment while several bodies lay covered outside the facility.
In response to the attacks, police said security forces have been deployed across Maiduguri and surrounding areas to strengthen surveillance and prevent further incidents. Authorities also stated that normal conditions have largely been restored in the affected locations.
The renewed violence underscores persistent security challenges in northeastern Nigeria, despite prolonged military efforts to contain violent armed groups.
