23 people were killed while more than 100 wounded in suicide attack in Maiduguri, Nigeria
A soldier inspects the aftermath of Monday's bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
Not less than 23 people were killed while more than 100 wounded in suspected suicide bombings Monday night that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the capital of the conflict-battered state of Borno in recent history..
The areas involved are a post office, a popular weekly market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, within minutes of each other at around 19:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Monday. The sites, which are among the city’s busiest locations, had drawn large crowds after the day’s Ramadan fast was broken.
Nigeria’s military has blamed the attack on militants from the notorious Boko Haram group.Boko Haram originated in Maiduguri and the city became the epicentre of the Islamist group’s insurgency, which began in 2009.
However, the state capital had been enjoying a relatively stable period after intensified military operations had pushed armed groups into remote border areas. “Preliminary investigation reveals that the incidents were carried out by suspected suicide bombers,” Borno police said in a statement, adding that an investigation was under way to establish the identity of the attackers. Modu Bukar, a resident who witnessed the market blast and helped take victims to hospital, said: “We were sitting when we suddenly heard a loud explosion. Everyone immediately started running in fear. “As we ran, people kept shouting that we should keep going.”
Another witness Mala Mohammed, 31, said “people began to ran toward the post office area because the market entrance and the post office are not far apart.
“Unfortunately, as they were running towards the post office, the person who had the explosive device ran into the crowd while people were still trying to escape.” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu condemned the attacks in a statement on Tuesday, calling them “profoundly upsetting” and the “desperate acts of the evil-minded terrorist groups”. He added that he has ordered security chiefs to move to Maiduguri and “take charge of the situation”.
Just hours before the bombings, security forces repelled an overnight attack by suspected Islamist fighters on a military post in the Ajilari Cross area, on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
The scale and location of Monday’s attacks – deep within the city – have shaken residents who had cautiously begun to believe that the worst years of Boko Haram’s insurgency were over. Violence has slowed from its peak around 2015 but fighters from Boko Haram and another jihadist group, Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), have recently stepped up attacks in north-eastern Nigeria. Officials have warned that the threat of further violence remains, even as emergency and security agencies work to reinforce safety across the city.
