A young Nigerian woman, Abigail Olugbode, has shared a chilling account of surviving a terrorist attack in Maiduguri during the height of insurgency in North-East Nigeria, recalling how fear and uncertainty became part of everyday life for many residents.
In a personal narrative titled “My Maiduguri Story,” Olugbode recounted her experience as a six-year-old living in Maiduguri at a time when attacks linked to Boko Haram were frequent and unpredictable.
She described how schools were often shut abruptly due to security threats, while students were sometimes instructed to hide under desks and remain silent during periods of tension.
According to her, although she was too young to fully understand the conflict at the time, she quickly became familiar with fear and anxiety, particularly through the reactions of adults around her.
Olugbode recalled that one of the most traumatic incidents occurred on December 20, 2014, shortly after her mother gave birth to her younger sister.
She said the family had been outside frying plantain in their home at the 1000 Housing Estate in Maiduguri when news broke that insurgents had entered the area.
The atmosphere, she said, changed instantly as panic spread through the household.
Her grandmother, who had travelled from Lagos to assist the family after the birth of the baby, reportedly became overwhelmed with fear, praying loudly and pleading not to die.
Olugbode said her mother quickly gathered the children indoors and ordered everyone to remain quiet, while her father calmly instructed the family to stay inside despite mounting panic and calls to flee.
Moments later, gunshots rang out across the neighbourhood.
She recounted that remaining silent inside the house became increasingly difficult as the baby cried, younger children became restless and the family dog barked continuously.
According to her, tension escalated further as her grandmother repeatedly begged the family to escape, while her mother threatened punishment for anyone who failed to keep quiet.
Despite the confusion and fear, the family stayed indoors throughout the night, listening to intermittent gunfire and waiting anxiously for the violence to subside.
By morning, calm had returned to the area.
Olugbode said the family later learned that some residents who attempted to flee during the attack were shot, while several homes were targeted by the attackers.
“That could have been us,” she reflected, noting that surviving the incident appeared to have depended largely on the decision to remain inside the house.
Following the incident, her grandmother reportedly returned to Lagos as soon as transportation became available, deeply shaken by the experience.
Olugbode added that repeated exposure to violence gradually desensitised many children growing up in Maiduguri during the insurgency, making gunfire and emergency alerts seem almost routine.
She said relatives outside the state frequently urged the family to leave Maiduguri whenever attacks occurred, but for residents who had lived through years of insecurity, the situation increasingly came to feel like a normal part of life.
