The ancient city of Maiduguri was plunged into deep mourning this week after multiple bomb explosions claimed at least 27 lives, including four sons from the same family who had gone out to buy eyeglasses for Sallah celebrations.
The tragic incident, which occurred on Monday at three different locations in the Borno State capital, has left families shattered and the entire community in grief as they prepare for what should have been a joyous Eid celebration.
A Father’s Unimaginable Loss
Ba Musa, a resident of Gwange Sabon Layi area of Maiduguri, is now living through every parent’s worst nightmare. According to his neighbour, Usman Lawan, Ba Musa lost all four of his sons in a single devastating moment when the boys went shopping for the upcoming Sallah festivities.
“He bought them new clothes and shoes, and they came to our place to buy eyeglasses for Sallah celebrations. The blast killed all of them. They were buried yesterday,” Lawan recounted with visible pain during Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
The trader himself barely escaped with his life. “We finished our Iftar, and I was pushing my fruit-cart when the blast happened. I just found myself at the hospital. I lost everything to that attack,” he told Daily Trust.
How the Attack Unfolded
The coordinated explosions struck three strategic locations: the gate of UMTH, the busy Monday Market roundabout, and the Post Office area—all places where ordinary Nigerians go about their daily lives.
A security guard at UMTH, who sustained serious injuries to his arms and legs, provided a chilling account of the moments before the explosion at the hospital gate.
“I was sitting outside the hospital when three people arrived on a motorbike. I noticed something suspicious and asked them to leave. They returned a second time, and when I refused to let them in, they threw a food container at me,” he told the BBC.
The alert guard’s suspicions proved tragically accurate. “It hit my hand and fell to the ground, threatening to explode. I lay down and heard a loud noise. As I tried to run inside, another container exploded and struck my leg. The bomb went off outside the hospital like a palm tree. Many others died,” he recounted.
Stories of Survival and Loss
Among the survivors is a woman whose world changed forever in an instant. She had just arrived at the hospital with her daughter when the explosion occurred.
“We had just arrived at the hospital when the bomb went off. I fell, and my daughter fell lifeless. Her head exploded. They brought me inside and told me she was gone,” she said, her voice heavy with grief. “I prayed to God because He took her. Her father died when she was five months old.”
The woman is now left alone, having lost both her husband and her only child.
Victims Receive Treatment Across Maiduguri Hospitals
The scale of the carnage has overwhelmed medical facilities across the city. Survivors, including petty traders who were caught in the blasts, are currently receiving treatment at UMTH, Specialist Hospital, and Umaru Shehu Hospital in Maiduguri.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, himself a former governor of Borno State, visited the injured at UMTH on Wednesday, offering condolences and assurances of government support.
A Community United in Grief
As Ramadan draws to a close and Muslims across Nigeria prepare for Sallah celebrations, Maiduguri residents are instead preparing for mass burials and consoling bereaved families. The four young boys who went out excited about new eyeglasses to complete their Sallah outfits will never celebrate another Eid.
The incident serves as yet another painful reminder of the security challenges that continue to plague the Northeast region, even as authorities maintain that progress has been made in combating insurgency.
For Ba Musa and countless other families in Maiduguri, the approaching Sallah will be marked not with joy and celebration, but with empty chairs at the dining table and fresh graves in the cemetery.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with all the victims and their families during this incredibly difficult time. May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace.
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