Many are feared dead after a bomb blast ripped through a mosque in Maiduguri on Christmas Eve, in an attack suspected to be the work of Boko Haram insurgents.

An improvised explosive device was detonated at a Juma’at Mosque in Gamboru Ward, near the Customs area in the heart of the Borno State capital. The attack occurred at approximately 6:10 p.m. on Wednesday, less than 12 hours before Christmas, as Muslim worshippers were observing the Maghrib prayer.

While details remain unclear, residents contacted by telephone told Channels Television that many worshippers were killed or injured. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Nahum Daso, provided preliminary figures, confirming five persons dead and 35 injured.

The explosion has sown fear among residents, particularly within the Christian community preparing for the 2025 Christmas celebration. Security operatives have cordoned off the area to prevent further casualties and to allow a preliminary assessment.

Nigeria has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2009 in a conflict that, according to the UN, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast.

Although the violence has waned since its peak a decade ago, it has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Concerns are growing about a resurgence of violence in parts of the northeast, where insurgent groups remain capable of mounting deadly attacks despite years of sustained military operations.

Maiduguri itself—once the scene of nightly gun battles and bombings—has been calm in recent years, with the last major attack recorded in 2021. However, reminders of the conflict are ever-present in the state capital, which hosts major military headquarters.

Military pick-ups lumber through the town daily, their beds filled with soldiers shielded from the hot sun by helmets. Evening checkpoints remain in effect, even as markets, which once closed in the early afternoon, now throng into the night.

Meanwhile, in the countryside, the insurgency continues to rage, with analysts warning of an uptick in jihadist violence this year.