A suspected suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) inside a crowded mosque at Gamborun Market in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, killing five worshippers and injuring at least 35 others.

The Borno State Police Command confirmed that the blast occurred at about 6:15 p.m. during Maghrib prayers, when dozens of faithful were engaged in evening worship.

The command’s spokesperson Nahum Daso said security operatives, including explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, were deployed immediately to secure the scene, evacuate the wounded and check for secondary devices. Injured victims have been taken to hospitals across the state capital for treatment.

Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes as traders and residents fled the market following the explosion, while volunteers and emergency responders rushed to assist the wounded amid plumes of smoke from the devastated mosque.

The attack, which struck a place of worship packed with worshippers, drew condemnation from officials and political figures. Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum denounced the bombing as “utterly condemnable, barbaric and inhumane,” urging heightened vigilance at places of worship throughout the festive period.

The assault underscores the ongoing threat from Islamist militant groups such as Boko Haram and its splinter factions, which have waged a years-long insurgency in northeastern Nigeria. Maiduguri and surrounding communities have been recurrent targets of suicide bombings and IED attacks, most recently in June 2025 when a blast at a crowded marketplace killed several people and wounded many others.

The latest incident comes at a time when Nigeria is facing heightened international scrutiny over allegations of religiously motivated violence, particularly accusations from some United States (US) President Donald Trump and American lawmakers and commentators that Christians are being persecuted in parts of the country. In October and November, U.S. lawmakers introduced proposals to sanction the Nigerian government over what they described as targeted violence against Christians, an argument that has fed a broader debate on whether the term “Christian genocide” applies to Nigeria’s security crisis.

The Nigerian government has firmly rejected claims that Christians are singled out for violence, characterising such narratives as misleading and asserting that Islamist insurgents and criminal groups attack both Muslims and Christians indiscriminately.

In his Christmas message following the suicide bombing, President Bola Tinubu urged Nigerians to uphold religious tolerance and coexistence, insisting that no citizen should face persecution for practising their faith.

“As your President, I remain committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect all people of different faiths from violence,” he said. “No one, regardless of ethnicity or belief, should be made to suffer for professing and practising his faith.”

The Christmas Eve mosque bombing, coming as Christians worldwide prepare for Christmas Day celebrations on Thursday, will likely heighten tensions in Borno and other vulnerable states.