“The militants came through Boboshe village, a known Boko Haram enclave”, eyewitness Sama’ila Ibrahim told AFP news agency, “They then crossed the ditch fortification around Maiduguri and started shooting sporadically which sent people scrambling for safety.”
According to the BBC report, a children’s playground was struck by one of the grenades, however it is unknown whether any children were killed during the tragedy. “The militants’ ability to strike a densely populated neighborhood has spooked many of Maiduguri’s residents and raises questions as to how they were able to breach the city’s defenses,” reports Mayeni Jones of BBC News, “launching bombs from a distance enables militants to reach targets that they couldn’t otherwise access.”
While no group has come forward as the perpetrators of the attack, Maiduguri is the birthplace of the jihadist group Boko Haram, which has wreaked havoc in north-eastern Nigeria for over a decade. Illia Djadi, Open Doors senior analyst on freedom of religion and belief in sub-Saharan Africa, stated: “In the northeast of Nigeria, Boko Haram spreads terror with its systematic raids on predominantly Christian communities with abductions, sexual violence, and roadblock killings… Christians have been specifically targeted and disproportionately been affected by this violence.”
Please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, for the Lord to strengthen the Nigerian church and heal His persecuted children of their trauma. Please also pray for the world to recognize the scale of the suffering that believers are having to endure in Nigeria, as well as for the souls of those who persecute the church, that all will repent and find salvation in Christ.
For interviews please contact Alison Garcia at press@persecution.org.
