Lives Lost as Multiple Explosions Hit University of Maiduguri

Front gate of the University of Maiduguri 

Two people lost their lives while many others were injured after suicide bombers detonated explosives at different locations including the security office in the University of Maiduguri last night.

According to Premium Times, the incident was confirmed by the Borno State Public Relations Officer, Victor Isukwu, at about 12 midnight on a WhatsApp platform managed by his office, but he did not give full details of casualties recorded.


He said: “Let’s not speculate yet”, he cautioned reporters. “At Unimaid only one male suicide bomber died; three university security personnel injured among which one later died.”

A professor in the Mass Communications department of the university who also doubles as the spokesperson of the institution, Danjuma Gambo, confirmed in a BBC Hausa broadcast early this morning that three suicide attacks took place in the university last night.

Residents of Maiduguri who celebrated a hitch-free Sallah could not go to sleep on Sunday night as sounds of bombings and shootings rented most part of the night and early hours of the dawn. The city vibrated with the first blast, which occurred at about 10:15 p.m.

Immediately after it was confirmed that it was from the university campus, another explosion occurred at exactly 11 p.m. It has not been confirmed if the second blast which seemed bigger recorded any casualty, but it was followed by hours of shootings and sounds of military vehicular movements.

The university has become one of the major targets of the Boko Haram since it came under its first direct attack on January 16. About four suicide attacks have been executed within and around the university since then.

One of the attacks led to the death of a renowned professor of veterinary medicine, who died alongside few others during the first attack.