President Bola Tinubu has ordered Nigeria’s security chiefs to immediately relocate their operational headquarters to Maiduguri following a devastating series of suicide bombings that killed at least 23 people on Monday evening.
President Bola Tinubu has issued a direct mandate to Nigeria’s service chiefs to relocate to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, following coordinated suicide bombings on Monday, March 16, 2026. The attacks, which occurred shortly after the breaking of the Ramadan fast, targeted the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Post Office area, and the crowded Monday Market. In a statement released on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described the blasts as “the final desperate and frantic attempts” by terrorists to instill fear in a population that has recently enjoyed relative peace. While mourning the victims and sympathizing with the 108 injured survivors, the President emphasized that the military’s “constant pressure” in various theaters is what has forced the insurgents into these cowardly soft-target attacks.
The Borno State Police Command confirmed that the death toll has risen to 23, making it one of the deadliest single-day events in the city in recent years. The blasts followed a warning issued by the Nigerian Army earlier on Monday regarding the potential for imminent suicide attacks after troops successfully repelled a militant incursion at a military outpost in Ajilari. Despite the heavy security presence that was already in place, the suspected Boko Haram operatives managed to infiltrate key civilian hubs. “We will continue to intensify our efforts against all criminal elements, wherever they may be,” the President’s statement read, reinforcing the government’s stance that Nigeria will not succumb to the “blackmail of terror.”
The order for security chiefs to relocate to the northeast is a significant strategic shift, mirroring similar directives from 2015 when the insurgency was at its peak. By moving the operational leadership closer to the front lines, the administration aims to fast-track intelligence sharing and response times to prevent further breaches of the city’s perimeter. Governor Babagana Zulum, who has been visiting survivors at the UMTH accident and emergency ward, has called for calm while urging residents to cooperate with the arriving military top brass. As the security chiefs begin their transition to Maiduguri this week, the city remains under a heightened state of alert, with several public markets and schools temporarily closed as a precautionary measure.
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