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 streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

Adamawa State Adamawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno State, Borno to the northwest, Gombe State, Gombe to the west, and Taraba State, Taraba to the southwest while its eas ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. 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 Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

Background

Mubi is located a few miles from the Cameroon–Nigeria border. 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 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 before, during, o ...

for more than a year. Even so,

's attacks by the Boko Haram insurgency include

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

s in Mubi in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, 2014,

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and

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is an Islamist terrorist group opposed to what they perceive as the

Westernisation Westernization (or Westernisation, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby Society, societies come under or adopt what is consider ...

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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in

Borno State Borno is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Yobe State, Yobe to the west, Gombe State, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa State, Adamawa to the south while its ea ...

in its fight against the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

. 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 A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

men in the villages of Baga, Borno and Izghe, Borno. Also in February, 59 boys were killed in the Federal Government College attack in

Yobe State Yobe is a States of Nigeria, 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 its largest city by populati ...

. 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 Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

, 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. 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 and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, 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 Nigeria Crime in Adamawa State Improvised explosive device bombings in 2014 June 2014 crimes in Africa June 2014 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