Suspected suicide bombers target Nigeria’s Maiduguri city, killing 23
people and injuring over 100
[March 17, 2026]
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — At least 23 people were killed
and more than 100 wounded in suspected suicide bombings Monday night
that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria, police said
Tuesday. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the conflict-battered
city in recent history.
Residents and emergency services earlier told The Associated Press that
three explosions were reported in crowded places in Maiduguri, the
capital of Borno state, including in a major market and at the entrance
of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“Regrettably, a total of 23 persons lost their lives, while 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 group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion
quickly fell on the Boko Haram jihadi group, which in 2009 launched an
insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce their radical
interpretation of Shariah.
Boko Haram has since become stronger, with thousands of fighters and
different factions, including the Islamic State West Africa Province,
which is backed by the Islamic State group.
Maiduguri city has been at the heart of the deadly violence but has in
recent years experienced relative peace even as the countryside is often
battered by extremists.
The attack took place less than 24 hours after the Nigerian military
repelled attacks by militants on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in what
some residents say could have been planned as a distraction.
By Tuesday morning, there was heavy security deployment in the affected
locations and along major roads in the city, but many public places
remained closed amid heightened fear.
“Investigations are ongoing to further ascertain the circumstances
surrounding the incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice,” the
Borno police command said.
Explosions rocked crowded places almost simultaneously
The first explosion was recorded at about 7:30 p.m. at the entrance of
the teaching hospital, while the second and third followed few minutes
later at the popular Monday Market and nearby Post Office business hub,
both located about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the hospital.
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A soldier inspects the aftermath of Monday's bomb blast at a market
in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola
)
Witnesses recounted the chaos that followed at the scenes and at
hospitals as security forces and the emergency services quickly
intervened.
“This attack has been one of the deadliest in Maiduguri in years,”
said Mohammed Hassan, a member of a volunteer group assisting
security forces in fighting extremists. “We’re in dire need of
blood,” he said of the situation hours after the attack.
The extremists have intensified their attacks against Nigerian
military bases in recent weeks, killing several senior officers and
soldiers, and stripping the bases of stocks of weaponry and
ammunition.
The multiple attacks could be seen as a major victory for the
jihadis in a city seen as impregnable despite the jihadis often
targeting troops and villages on the outskirts of the city.
Past attacks in the city have been limited to one-off incidents that
occur once in a long while, including a suicide attack that killed
five 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.
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