On the evening of 1 June 2014, an improvised explosive device was set off at a football field in

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

Adamawa State Adamawa state () is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west, and Taraba to the southwest, while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon. It tak ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. At least 40 people were killed in the attack, according to eyewitnesses. Nineteen others were injured. The perpetrators of the attack were not clear, although media reports generally blamed

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

Background

Mubi is located a few miles from the

Cameroon–Nigeria border The Cameroon–Nigeria border is 1,975 km (1,227 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Chad in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Description The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Chad in Lake Chad, proceedin ...

. It is one of three towns in northeastern Nigeria that have been under a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

for more than a year. Even so,

's attacks by the

Boko Haram insurgency The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing iss ...

include

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

s in Mubi in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2014,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

is an

Islamist terrorist Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities ...

group opposed to what they perceive as the

Westernisation Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...

of Nigeria, which they say is the root cause of criminal behaviour in the country. Thousands of people have been killed in attacks perpetrated by the group, and the federal

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

in its fight against the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

. The resulting crackdown, however, has failed to stabilise the country. Boko Haram's attacks intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

men in the villages of Baga, Borno and

Izghe Izghe is a village in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria. An massacre by Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والج ...

, Borno. Also in February, 59 boys were killed in the

Federal Government College attack On February 25, 2014, fifty-nine boys were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Nigeria. The twenty-four buildings of the school were also burned down as a result of the attack. No group has claimed responsibility ...

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

. 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. By mid-April, Boko Haram had been blamed for nearly 4,000 deaths in 2014. At least 500 more people have been killed since then. After the

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

, international attention on the situation greatly intensified. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other nations pledged monetary and/or military support to combat Boko Haram. However, attacks continued. 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.

Attack

At approximately 6:30 pm local time (17:30 UTC), a bomb went off as spectators were leaving a football field in Kabang,

. A number of shops were destroyed in the blast. 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." 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 A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

. However, other eyewitnesses said a car had delivered the explosives. 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. Initial reports said 14 people were killed in the attack and 12 injured. The official death toll was upped to 18 with 19 injuries the next day. 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. An eyewitness who lost two family members said about 45 people had died.

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. On 2 June, a suspect was arrested by the military who had surrounded the city in hopes of catching the perpetrator. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the suspect's car at the scene of the bombing.

Reaction

Politicians including Adamawa State governor

Murtala Nyako Murtala Hamman-Yero Nyako, GCON, CFR: rcds, D.Agric. (H.C.) (born 27 August 1942) was elected Executive Governor of Adamawa State, Nigeria, taking office in May 2007.SPPU Adamawa State Government, " ww.adamawastatesppu.org Prior to then he serve ...

and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly,

Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (born October 27, 1967) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Adamawa State. He was a member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly and was appointed the Speaker of the House. He became the acting Governor of A ...

, 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mubi bombing, 2014 2014 murders in Nigeria 21st-century mass murder in Nigeria Attacks on sports venues Boko Haram bombings Building bombings in Africa Crime in Adamawa State Improvised explosive device bombings in 2014 Improvised explosive device bombings in Nigeria June 2014 crimes in Africa June 2014 events in Africa Mass murder in 2014 Massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram 2014 bombing Terrorist incidents in Nigeria in 2014

Background

Attack

Suspects

Reaction

See also

References