March 2016 Maiduguri bombings

On the morning of 16 March 2016, two female suicide bombers attacked the Molai-Umarari mosque on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 people who had gathered for early morning prayers. The attackers are thought to have been members of Boko Haram, the militant group whose armed wing originated in Maiduguri.

The first explosion occurred at around 5am as worshippers were beginning prayers. One of the bombers had disguised herself as a man in order to gain access to areas of the mosque that are normally restricted to women. She positioned herself in the front row of the congregation and detonated her explosives as attendees stood for prayer. A second bomb was detonated approximately 50 metres (160 ft) away shortly afterward, targeting people who were fleeing the scene as well as those who had rushed to assist the wounded.

The attack occurred shortly after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had stated that Boko Haram had been "technically defeated." Following the bombings, military officials sought to downplay the severity of the attack, describing it as a "common" occurrence experienced by "countries around the world."

The location carries particular significance within the broader Boko Haram insurgency. Maiduguri is the birthplace of the group's armed wing, and the mosque itself was situated in Umamari, a village roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) from the city — an area that has served as a command center for the Nigerian military's operations against Boko Haram. The mosque had reopened only three days before the attack, following a nearly identical assault approximately five months earlier in which only the head imam reportedly survived.

As of the available reporting, no individuals have been publicly named or charged in connection with the attack, and the case remains attributed generally to Boko Haram without confirmed identification of the specific perpetrators.