Suicide bombers attack Nigerian university

Two suicide bombers set off explosives Monday at the northeastern Nigerian University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), killing four people and injuring 15 others.

The first blast went off at a mosque where professors were reciting their morning prayers, police officials said. University officials confirmed Aliyu Mani from the university’s veterinary department was among the people killed in the blast.

The second explosion happened when police officials shot a 12-year-old girl wearing a suicide vest, setting off the explosives, security officials said.

Following the attack, the university announced it had suspended its ongoing semester examinations.

“We have to suspend the exams because we could not have had a stable mind to go and write exams under this grieving condition,” Abubakar Njodi, the university’s vice chancellor, told the Premium Times.

Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attack. In an unconfirmed audio recording posted on social media, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the extremists attacked the mosque because it was “ungodly.”

“You should know it is Shekau talking and I’m alive, and it’s we that did it,” he said.

Boko Haram’s insurgency has plagued northeastern Nigeria, where it has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million others. Monday’s attack was the group’s first strike on the University of Maiduguri.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari extended his condolences to the affected families and said his administration would continue to work on ending terrorism in the country. Former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar described the attack as a threatening development.

“The attack on UNIMAID is not just about a bomb exploding in a mosque,” Abubakar said. “Once again, education in the northeast of Nigeria is under attack.”