At least 23 people were killed and 108 others wounded in three suspected suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria Monday night, police say.
Associated Press reported the attacks are some of the deadliest to occur in the city of Maiduguri in recent history. Residents and emergency services told AP the explosions occurred in a major market and at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Borno police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso blamed the attacks on suspected suicide bombers and said the wounded “sustained varying degrees of injuries.”
President Bola Tinubu called the attacks “desperate acts of the evil-minded terrorist groups.”
“Our gallant military and civilian task forces will curtail and put them down,” Tinubu continued.
No terrorist group has stepped forward and claimed responsibility for the attacks, although many suspect the jihadi group Boko Haram, which has been terrorizing the region since 2009, according to the report.
The first suspected bombing occurred at around 7:30 p.m. near the entrance of the hospital, and the second and third explosions followed a few minutes later at the bustling Monday Market and nearby Post Office business hub, per the report.
Witnesses told the outlet the security forces and emergency services responded quickly to the chaos.
A survivor of the explosion at the hospital named Caleb Jonah told the outlet he sustained injuries to his hands and legs.
“I was coming to the hospital to check (in on) a patient when I saw two men struggling with the security men at the gate,” Jonah said. “Before I could process what was going on I heard the deafening blast and I passed out.”
Another resident, 52-year-old Mamman Usman, told the outlet his younger brother was at the Monday Market about to close his stall when the attack happened.
“He was badly injured and rushed to the hospital unconscious,” Usman said.
Mohammed Hassan, who is a part of a volunteer group that helps security forces fight extremists, said the hospitals are “in dire need of blood” to help surviving victims.
“Maiduguri has been at the heart of deadly violence in Nigeria in the past, but has experienced relative peace in recent years, even as the countryside is often battered by extremists,” according to the report. “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.”
Many public places remained closed on Tuesday “amid heightened fear” and there was a heavy security presence in the area and along major roads in the city, the report continues.
Borno police command said investigations are ongoing “to further ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice.”
Islamic extremists have reportedly dialed up their attacks on Nigerian military bases in recent weeks, killing several soldiers and senior officers and stealing weaponry and ammunition.
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