From his hospital bed in Maiduguri, Abacha Mustapha struggles to piece together the moments that shattered a routine evening at the market into blood and chaos.

Mustapha, a trader, had just broken his fast and was preparing to close his shop when the first explosion ripped through the busy Monday Market axis of Maiduguri, Borno State.

“We broke our fast and were about to leave after closing our shops when the first bomb detonated. I heard a loud sound, and suddenly my neck started bleeding,” he recalled, his voice subdued as medical staff moved briskly around him at Umaru Shehu Hospital.

Within seconds, the familiar noise of traders packing up for the day was replaced by screams, dust and confusion. Stalls were overturned, goods abandoned, and bodies lay scattered as people fled in every direction.

“It was chaotic. People were running in different directions. Some fell, others were shouting. I couldn’t even understand what had happened at first,” Mustapha said.

Amid the panic, his brother, who had been nearby, became his lifeline.

“My brother used his cloth to tie my neck to stop the bleeding before rushing me to the hospital. If not for him, I don’t know what would have happened,” he added, one hand instinctively reaching for the bandage wrapped tightly around his neck.

Doctors at Umaru Shehu Hospital and other facilities in Maiduguri have been treating dozens of victims suffering from shrapnel wounds, burns and blast injuries. Many arrived in commercial vehicles and on motorcycles, ferried by relatives, friends and strangers who turned into first responders.

Security sources and officials said the explosions were part of coordinated attacks that struck several crowded locations, including the Post Office area, the Monday Market axis and the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. At least 23 people were reported killed and more than 100 injured.

The Nigerian Army warned that multiple suicide bombers may have been deployed in the city, urging residents to avoid crowded places and report suspicious movements. The Borno State Police Command said security operatives quickly moved in to secure and cordon off the affected areas.

Police spokesperson Nahum Daso said bomb disposal teams conducted thorough sweep operations to ensure no additional explosive devices were left behind.

For Mustapha and other survivors, the warnings come too late. Their immediate concern is survival, recovery and the daunting question of how to return to the same streets that, in a single blast, turned from a place of livelihood into a scene of horror.