Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18.
A Morning of Terror in Maiduguri
On the morning of March 16, 2016, a devastating attack shattered the peace of early prayers at the Molai-Umarari mosque on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria. This brutal incident, attributed to two female suicide bombers believed to be members of the extremist group Boko Haram, claimed the lives of 22 innocent worshipers.
The first explosion ripped through the mosque just as congregants were commencing their 5 AM prayers. In a calculated and insidious act, one of the assailants had disguised herself as a man, a tactic that allowed her to penetrate areas of the mosque typically off-limits to women. She strategically positioned herself in the front row, amidst the devout, and detonated her explosives precisely as people rose for prayer, maximizing the human cost of her actions.
As panic and chaos erupted inside the building, a second horrific detonation occurred approximately 50 meters (160 feet) away. This secondary blast was designed to target and kill those desperately fleeing the initial explosion, as well as brave individuals rushing forward to offer aid, compounding the tragedy.
These coordinated attacks resonated with particular gravity coming shortly after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had publicly asserted that Boko Haram had been "technically defeated." In the wake of such a significant and violent event, military officials, seemingly intent on defending the president's contentious claims, downplayed the severity of the incident. They characterized it as a 'common' occurrence, something 'experienced by countries around the world,' a narrative that starkly contrasted with the horrific reality faced by the victims and the community of Maiduguri, a city often at the forefront of the fight against the enduring insurgency.