Maiduguri is under attack tonight.
Multiple bomb explosions have rocked the capital of Borno State on Monday evening March 16, 2026, sending residents into panic and leaving an unspecified number of people dead and injured across several locations in the city.
Eyewitnesses narrated that bombs detonated simultaneously at approximately 7:02pm, with explosions reported around the Monday Market area near Elkanemi and near a security post at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
A third explosion was also reported around the Post Office area of the city.
An unspecified number of persons are feared dead while many others sustained injuries. Eyewitnesses told journalists that many of the injured victims had been evacuated to hospitals for treatment. “There were dead bodies on the ground, and many persons with wounds have been rushed to the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri,” one witness said.
The Head of Operations of the Federal Fire Service in Borno State, Mohammed Kafaran, confirmed the incident. “Yes, there was a bomb explosion at the Monday Market area around Elkanemi. We have deployed our team there to assess the situation,” he said.
Tonight’s bomb blasts are the second major attack on Maiduguri within a single day. In the early hours of Monday around 12:35am, Boko Haram terrorists attacked areas around Dala, Bulamari and Ajilari-Cross in Konduga Local Government Area on the outskirts of Maiduguri, triggering sustained gunfire and prompting residents across the city to flee their homes in panic.
Calm was eventually restored after Nigerian Army and Air Force troops successfully repelled the midnight attack.
Security sources described the attacks as “probing attacks” by insurgents targeting areas around Maiduguri, noting that the Ajilari and Pompomari communities targeted are located in the metropolitan outskirts of the city in close proximity to key installations including the Maiduguri International Airport and several military formations.
The evening bomb blasts targeting the Monday Market one of the busiest commercial areas in the Northeast and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital struck at locations crowded with civilians shortly after Iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, when the streets would have been filled with residents.
The incidents come less than 24 hours after suspected insurgents reportedly infiltrated the Kofa community on the outskirts of Maiduguri but were repelled by security forces.
