A teenage female suicide bomber detonated explosives at a crowded bus station. The bomber managed to pass through security checks at the entrance and walked into a crowd before detonating her device. Witnesses described the scene as littered with dismembered and mutilated bodies. Most victims were children who had been selling peanuts or begging at the station. An angry mob reportedly prevented emergency workers from retrieving the bomber's remains and set them on fire
15 Feb 2015 · Central Motor Park (bus station), Damaturu, Yobe
Deaths
16
Injured
30
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
46
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
Wounded victims were evacuated to Damaturu Specialists Hospital, where at least eight bodies were taken to the mortuary
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Targeting of crowded civilian spaces, use of teenage female bombers to bypass security.
Trajectory
This was the first suicide bombing in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State. The attack occurred during a period of intense Boko Haram activity, following a failed attempt to capture the city on 1 December 2014. The attack came just two weeks after a similar suicide bombing at a school in Potiskum (10 November 2014) and one day after Boko Haram fighters attempted to take over Gombe city (14 February 2015). The pattern of using female adolescents as bombers, first documented in 2014, became a hallmark of the group‘s urban terror campaign in 2015 and 2016
Cycle notes
The use of a female suicide bomber at a crowded bus station directly echoed the 2 February 2015 attack in Gombe, where a female bomber detonated explosives after President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign rally. It also mirrored the 10 November 2014 Potiskum school bombing, where a suicide bomber disguised as a student killed 48. The targeting of a bus station – a soft civilian space – had been a recurring tactic since the 14 April 2014 Nyanya bombing in Abuja. The angry mob‘s desecration of the bomber‘s remains echoed public reactions to earlier attacks, reflecting the deep anger and frustration of civilian populations.
Pattern
Suicide Bombing
Related — Bombing/IED
As President Buhari's plane was preparing to land at the Maiduguri International Airport, ISWAP launched at least five 122mm GRAD rockets into the city. The rockets landed in several communities, including Ngomari Ayabe, Bulumkutu, and Ajilari Cross, which are located within a five-kilometer radius of the Air Force Base and the airport.
A powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated at the School of Hygiene in Kano city. The blast occurred near the administrative block as new students were gathered for registration and screening. The explosion was so powerful it shattered windows in neighboring buildings and caused a stampede. This attack targeted the educational sector, specifically healthcare training, at a time when the city was already on high alert following previous strikes on the Sabon Gari district.
Two men in a sedan attempted to throw a bomb at soldiers stationed at a military post in the West‑End area of Maiduguri. The device detonated prematurely, killing the would‑be bomber. His accomplice fled, abandoning the car. Immediately after the blast, soldiers reportedly exchanged fire with unidentified gunmen and then stormed through the surrounding residential neighbourhood, allegedly shooting indiscriminately and setting homes on fire.