A father’s anticipation of the Sallah celebration has turned into devastating grief in Maiduguri after four of his sons were killed in a series of bomb explosions that struck the city.
The coordinated attacks, which occurred near the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital gate, Monday Market roundabout, and the Post Office area, left at least 27 people dead and dozens injured, sending shockwaves across the state.
For Ba Musa, a resident of Gwange Sabon Layi, what should have been a joyful period of preparation for Eid al-Fitr instead became a nightmare.
His four sons had stepped out shortly after breaking their fast to buy eyeglasses for the festive celebration.
They never returned.
“They went to prepare for Sallah… and that was the last time anyone saw them alive,” a neighbour, Usman Lawan, recounted, his voice heavy with emotion.
The boys, who had earlier received new clothes and shoes from their father, were later buried, leaving their family and community shattered.
Lawan himself survived one of the explosions but lost his means of livelihood in the chaos.
“We had just finished Iftar when the blast happened. I woke up in the hospital—everything I owned was gone,” he said.
At the hospital scene, a security guard who sustained injuries described how suspected attackers attempted to force their way into the facility on a motorbike.
When denied entry, they reportedly returned and hurled explosive devices.
“I stopped them because something didn’t feel right. They came back and threw something at me—it exploded. As I tried to escape, another one hit my leg,” he narrated.
The tragedy extended beyond one household. A grieving mother also lost her daughter in the blast, recounting the painful moment her child died beside her.
“We had just arrived at the hospital when the explosion happened. I fell… and my daughter didn’t get up again,” she said.
Petty traders were among those hardest hit, with many losing both their goods and their only sources of income in seconds.
Several of the injured are currently receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and other facilities across the city, as victims appeal for urgent government support to rebuild their lives.
“In a few minutes, everything we worked for was destroyed,” one injured trader said from his hospital bed.
The incident has also drawn reactions from the Arewa Consultative Forum, which called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima, who visited victims at the hospital, condemned the attacks as “barbaric and unjustifiable,” assuring affected families of government support.
As Borno State grapples with the aftermath, the tragedy has once again highlighted the human cost of insecurity in Nigeria’s North-East—where moments of joy can quickly turn into scenes of sorrow.
For Ba Musa and many others, this year’s Sallah will no longer be a celebration, but a painful reminder of lives lost too soon.
Sallah Turns to Sorrow as Father Loses Four Sons in Maiduguri Blasts
