Multiple explosions rock Maiduguri after attack on military post

Members of the Nigerian Red Cross carry a body bag at a hospital in Maiduguri on March 16, 2026 following blasts in the city. Multiple explosions rocked the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri in the evening of March 16, 2026, Photo: AFP

Multiple explosions struck the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday evening, according to government and healthcare sources, following an overnight attack on a military post on the outskirts of the city.

Security analyst, counterinsurgency expert, Makama Zagazolla, reported that one of the three explosions happened at the entrance of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. Suspected jihadists launched an assault on a Nigerian military position in Ajilari Cross district, a southwestern suburb of Maiduguri located just a few kilometres from the city’s airport. The attack occurred around midnight.

Another incident was also reported overnight in the Damboa Local Government Area, south of Maiduguri.

Dauda Iliya, media aide to the Borno State government, said authorities were working to determine whether the evening explosions caused casualties.

“Agencies are trying to confirm if there are any casualties,” Iliya said, referring to the blasts reported at the city’s main market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Idris Suleiman Gimba of the National Blood Service Commission also reported an explosion near the city’s post office.

People carry an injured man past bodies covered with sheets at a hospital in Maiduguri on March 16, 2026 following blasts in the city. Multiple explosions rocked Maiduguri in the evening of March 16, 2026 on the back of an overnight attack on a military post. (Photo by AFP)

Insurgents from Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have recently intensified attacks across northeastern Nigeria.

The groups have waged a 16-year insurgency aimed at establishing a caliphate, a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million.

Police said the overnight incidents followed “widespread reports of sporadic gunshots and explosions” linked to attempted infiltrations by suspected Boko Haram or ISWAP militants.

“In a swift and coordinated response, joint security operatives who were already on heightened alert engaged the insurgents and successfully repelled the attacks, forcing the terrorists to retreat,” police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said in a statement.

He added that no casualties were recorded among military personnel or civilians during the earlier attacks, although the insurgents were believed to have suffered losses.

Residents reported that four of the attackers were killed.

A resident, Yakaka Ali Gana, said the attack was unprecedented in the area.

“This is the first time attackers have stormed our community and attacked the military base,” Gana said.

The military has yet to comment on the incidents.