The death toll from the coordinated suicide bombings that hit three locations in Maiduguri on Monday has risen to 25, with more than 100 people injured. A survivor and staff member of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital has now revealed how alert security personnel at the hospital gate stopped the attackers from entering the premises, preventing what could have been an even deadlier disaster.
The attacks took place during the breaking of the Ramadan fast when suicide bombers detonated improvised explosive devices at the Post Office area, the Maiduguri Monday Market, and the entrance gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. The blasts initially claimed about 23 lives before the toll climbed to 25 as more victims were confirmed dead. Survivors receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri have continued to share harrowing accounts of what they witnessed.
One of the injured survivors, a UMTH staff member identified as Usman Mohammed, gave a detailed account of what happened at the hospital gate. He said the attackers arrived in a tricycle and attempted to enter the hospital premises. Security personnel stationed at the gate turned them back. They tried a second time and were refused again because all tricycles operating within the hospital are required to be registered and carry specific identification numbers. When the bombers attempted a third time and were denied, one of them detonated the explosive device strapped to his body.
Mohammed said, “The second suicide bomber threw a food flask containing an IED at the security personnel who prevented their entry, and the security personnel gallantly threw back the food flask to the suicide bomber and it exploded with him.” He explained that many of those injured had gathered near the gate to watch the confrontation between the security officers and the suspected attackers when the explosions went off. He added, “The suicide bombers didn’t know that every tricycle operating in the hospital had a security tag. They saw tricycles entering and attempted to enter the hospital to carry out the attack, but thank God for the eagle-eyed security personnel at the gate, who quickly identified that they were strangers. If they had entered, the disaster would have been fatal.”
The Maiduguri attacks are a grim reminder that the Boko Haram insurgency and related violence continue to pose a serious threat to communities in the North East despite years of military operations in the region. Coordinated bombings targeting civilian spaces during a period as sacred as Ramadan reflect the ruthlessness of the attackers and the ongoing security challenges the region faces.
The bravery of the security officers at the UMTH gate has drawn widespread praise from survivors and members of the public who believe their quick thinking saved potentially hundreds of lives inside the hospital. Many have called for the officers to be officially recognised and rewarded for their actions.
As families mourn the dead and the injured continue to receive treatment, the incident raises fresh questions about the adequacy of security measures in public spaces across the North East and the broader fight against insurgency in Nigeria…..See More
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