The University of Maiduguri (shortened asUniMaid) is a federal-government-owned higher institution located inMaiduguri, the capital city ofBorno State in NortheastNigeria.[1]
The university was created by the federal government of Nigeria in 1975, with the intention of its becoming one of the country's principalhigher-education institutions.[2] It enrolls about 25,000 students in its combined programs, which include a college ofmedicine and faculties ofagriculture,arts,environmental science, Allied health science, Basic medical science,dentistry,education,engineering,law,management science,pharmacy,science,social science, andveterinary medicine. With the encouragement of the federal government, the university has recently been increasing its research efforts, particularly in the fields of agriculture, medicine and conflict resolution, and expanding the university press. The university is the major higher institution of learning in the north-eastern part of the country.[3] Following the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari on 13 July 2025, theFederal Executive Council under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved renaming the university to Muhammadu Buhari University of Maiduguri.
In the early morning of January 16, 2017, there was asuicide bomb attack at a mosque at the university. The explosion killed four people, including Professor Aliyu Mani and one of the attackers, and injuring seventeen.[21][22][23] The wounded were rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.[24] Another attacker, a girl of about 12 years of age, was reportedly shot by police as she approached the university, detonating herexplosives and killing her.[23] Responsibility for the attack was claimed byBoko Haram leaderAbubakar Shekau.[25] The number of attackers involved has varied between reports, but one of the bombers was believed to be a teenage girl.[21][23]
Three suicide bombers attacked the University on June 25 and June 26, 2017, killing one security guard.[26][27] The university has begun digging a 27 kilometer trench around the perimeter in order to prevent Boko Haram attacks.[27]
^abUmar, Haruna (January 16, 2017)."Bombers at Nigeria's Maiduguri University kill professor".San Francisco Chronicle. Archived fromthe original on January 17, 2017.Three suicide bombers, including a child, exploded at dawn Monday at Nigeria's northeastern University of Maiduguri, killing a university professor and another child, witnesses and police said [...] He said 15 wounded people were evacuated to hospitals. The National Emergency Management Agency which carried out the evacuations put the wounded at 17.
^Hussain, Bukar; Abubakar, Aminu (January 16, 2017)."At least three dead in Nigeria suicide attack".Yahoo News. Archived fromthe original on January 17, 2017.Islamist group Boko Haram, which has repeatedly used young women and girls as human bombs, claimed responsibility for the attack. "We are the ones that triggered the explosions in the University of Maiduguri," said Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in an audio message. "A woman can fight when the need arises."
^"Suicide Bombers Kill 9 in Nigerian City of Maiduguri".Voice of America. Reuters. June 27, 2017.Borno police said a male suicide bomber killed a security guard after entering the University of Maiduguri, near the city center, on Sunday evening at 10:20 p.m. (2120 GMT) [...] Two female suicide bombers were the only people to die in two blasts at the University of Maiduguri on Monday morning at around 4:20 a.m. (0320 GMT).
