2014 Mubi bombing

Last updated
2014 Mubi bombing
Part of Boko Haram insurgency
Nigeria - Adamawa.svg
Location of Adamawa State in Nigeria
Location Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria
Date1 June 2014
Attack type
 Bombing
Weapon Improvised explosive device
Deaths40
Injured19
Perpetrator Boko Haram

On the evening of 1 June 2014, an improvised explosive device was set off at a football field in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria. At least 40 people were killed in the attack, according to eyewitnesses. [1] Nineteen others were injured. [2] The perpetrators of the attack were not clear, although media reports generally blamed Boko Haram. [1]

Contents

Background

Mubi is located a few miles from the Cameroon–Nigeria border. It is one of three towns in northeastern Nigeria that have been under a state of emergency for more than a year. Even so, Adamawa State's attacks by the Boko Haram insurgency include massacres in Mubi in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018. [1]

Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist group opposed to what they perceive as the Westernisation of Nigeria, which they say is the root cause of criminal behaviour in the country. [3] Thousands of people have been killed in attacks perpetrated by the group, and the federal government declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in Borno State in its fight against the insurgency. [4] The resulting crackdown, however, has failed to stabilise the country. [5] [6]

Boko Haram's attacks intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100 Christian men in the villages of Baga, Borno and Izghe, Borno. [5] Also in February, 59 boys were killed in the Federal Government College attack in Yobe State. [7] In April 2014, the group abducted more than 200 school girls on the same day as a bombing attack in Abuja killed at least 88 people. [8] By mid-April, Boko Haram had been blamed for nearly 4,000 deaths in 2014. [5] At least 500 more people have been killed since then. [9]

After the kidnapping, international attention on the situation greatly intensified. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other nations[ specify ] pledged monetary and/or military support to combat Boko Haram. However, attacks continued. [1] On 20 May 2014, 118 people were killed in a pair of bombings in Jos. The following day, two dozen people were killed in a raid on a village. [10]

Attack

At approximately 6:30 pm local time (17:30 UTC), a bomb went off as spectators were leaving a football field in Kabang, Mubi. [1] A number[ specify ] of shops were destroyed in the blast.[ citation needed ] One survivor described the scene: "After the commotion, I stood up covered with my own blood, but I realized that I was lucky to be injured as those who were not that lucky were shattered into pieces." [2]

According to one eyewitness, the blast appeared to come from within a crowd of people walking across the field on their way home, possibly suggesting the attack was the work of a suicide bomber. [1] However, other eyewitnesses said a car had delivered the explosives. [11] A similar attack was attempted at a football field in Jos the previous weekend, but the would-be-suicide bomber blew up before reaching the target. [9]

Initial reports said 14 people were killed in the attack and 12 injured. [9] The official death toll was upped to 18 with 19 injuries the next day. [2] However, the actual death toll was much higher according to locals. A nurse said the morgue at the local hospital was "overcrowded" with 40 or more bodies; a police officer backed her report. [1] [2] An eyewitness who lost two family members said about 45 people had died. [2]

Suspects

Media reports were quick to link the attack to Boko Haram. However, the area has also been subject to non-Boko Haram violence in recent years, so the perpetrators were not clear. [1] On 2 June, a suspect was arrested by the military who had surrounded the city in hopes of catching the perpetrator. [12] Eyewitnesses reported seeing the suspect's car at the scene of the bombing. [11]

Reaction

Politicians including Adamawa State governor Murtala Nyako and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, described the attack as barbaric. Nyako said the government was saddened by the attack, but called on citizens to remain calm and assist in the investigation. The military surrounded the town in an effort to catch those responsible for the attack. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adamawa State</span> State of Nigeria

Adamawa State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west for 95 km, and Taraba to the southwest for about 366 km, while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon across the Atlantica Mountains for about 712 km. It takes its name from the historic emirate of Adamawa, with the emirate's old capital of Yola, serving as the capital city of Adamawa state. The state is one of the most heterogeneous in Nigeria, with over 100 indigenous ethnic groups. It was formed in 1991, when the former Gongola state was divided into Adamawa and Taraba states. Since it was carved out of the old Gongola State in 1991 by the General Ibrahim Badamsi Babangida military regime, Adamawa State has had 10 men, both military and civilian, controlling the levers of power, who played crucial roles in transforming the state into what it is today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borno State</span> State of Nigeria

Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west for about 421 km, Gombe to the southwest for 93 km, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon for about 426 km, its northern border forms part of the national border with Niger, for about 223 km mostly across the Komadougou-Yobe River, and its northeastern border forms all of the national border with Chad for 85 km, being the only Nigerian state to border three foreign countries. It takes its name from the historic emirate of Borno, with the emirate's old capital of Maiduguri serving as the capital city of Borno State. The state was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up. It originally included the area that is now Yobe State, which became a distinct state in 1991.

Mubi is a town in Northern Senatorial District of Adamawa State, northeast Nigeria. It is subdivided into two. Mubi north and Mubi south

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram</span> Central-West African jihadist terrorist organization

Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwoza</span> LGA and town in Borno State, Nigeria

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A series of assaults on businesses occurred in northeastern Nigeria on 5 and 6 January 2012, followed by attacks on police stations and government offices in the north on 20 January. Over 180 people were killed.

On 6 July 2013, Boko Haram insurgents attacked the Government Secondary School in the village of Mamudo in Yobe State, Nigeria and killed at least 42 people. Most of the dead were students, though some staff members were also killed.

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The Konduga massacre took place in Konduga, Borno State, Nigeria on 11 February 2014. The massacre was conducted by Boko Haram Islamists against Christian villagers. At least 62 people were killed.

The January 2014 Northern Nigeria attacks were a set of terrorist massacres that occurred in January 2014 at Kawuri, Borno state and in Chakawa village, Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State respectively. All of the attacks have been blamed on Boko Haram.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Kano attack</span> 2014 Islamist terror attack in Northern Nigeria, Nigeria

The 2014 Kano bombing was a terrorist attack on November 28, 2014, at the Central Mosque in Kano, the biggest city in the mainly Muslim Northern Nigeria during the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria. The mosque is next to the palace of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, Nigeria's second most senior Muslim cleric, who had urged the civilians to protect themselves by arming up against Boko Haram. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire on those who were trying to escape. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.

The 2015 Baga massacre was a series of mass killings carried out by the Boko Haram terrorist group in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Baga and its environs, in the state of Borno, between 3 January and 7 January 2015.

On 17 November 2015, a suicide bombing occurred at a vegetable market in Yola, Adamawa State, eastern Nigeria. Over 30 people were killed and 80 others injured as traders in the city were closing for the day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koshebe massacre</span> 2020 massacre in Borno State, Nigeria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Maiduguri rocket attacks</span> Terrorist attack by Boko Haram

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Bombing at northeast Nigeria football match kills at least 40". times of India. AFP. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bayo Oladeji; Mohammed Ismail (3 June 2014). "Mubi Attack: Prayers Saved Me From Perishing In Bomb Attack – Survivor". Leadership. Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  3. ↑ McElroy, Damien (6 July 2013). "Extremist attack in Nigeria kills 42 at boarding school". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Nigeria school attack claims 42 lives". The Australian. Agence France-Presse. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Dorell, Oren (21 April 2014). "Terrorists kidnap more than 200 Nigerian girls". USA Today. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Aronson, Samuel (28 April 2014). "AQIM and Boko Haram Threats to Western Interests in the Africa's Sahel". Combating Terrorism Center Sentinel (CTC), West Point. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Boko Haram kills 59 children at Nigerian boarding school". The Guardian. 25 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Perkins, Anne (23 April 2014). "200 girls are missing in Nigeria – so why doesn't anybody care?". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 Lanre Ola; Imma Ande. "Nigeria bomb kills at least 14 at northeast football TV showing". Reuters. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Nigeria violence: 'Boko Haram' kill 27 in village attacks". BBC. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Nigeria army arrests Sunday bomb suspect". Star Africa. APA. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "One arrested after Nigeria football pitch bombing". AFP. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.

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