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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has commemorated the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the UN House in Abuja that killed 23 people, including 11 UN personnel.
Guterres paid tribute to the victims in a post on X on Wednesday, saying the UN continues to remember those killed, their families and the survivors of the attack.
“On this day 15 years ago, the horrific terrorist attack on the United Nations House in Abuja claimed the lives of 23 people, including 11 UN colleagues, and left many more injured,” Guterres said.
“Today & every day, we remember the fallen & their families, and the survivors — and continue to carry their legacy in our hearts & our work,” he added.
The attack occurred on August 26, 2011, when a suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the UN House in Abuja and detonated explosives inside the compound.
The building was damaged, and UN personnel and other people at the complex were killed.
UN later confirmed that 23 people were killed, including 11 UN staff members, while more than 100 people were injured.
The bombing was claimed by Boko Haram and marked a significant escalation in the group’s attacks, becoming its first major strike against a Western or international target.
Photograph in 2011. Credit: Tony Nwosu/EPA
It occurred after a series of increasingly sophisticated bombings in Nigeria’s capital in 2011.
At the time, the UN House hosted about 400 employees working for 26 UN humanitarian and development agencies.
Then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack as “an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others.”
In a briefing to the UN Security Council four days after the bombing, Ban said the attack had struck at the organisation’s efforts to serve vulnerable communities.
The attack also prompted questions about security at international facilities in Nigeria. UN officials said the bomber had breached two security gates before driving into the compound, prompting a review of the organisation’s security arrangements.
The UN continued its operations in Nigeria after the bombing. The damaged Abuja facility was eventually renovated and officially reopened in 2019, eight years after the attack.
On the 10th anniversary in 2021, the UN system in Nigeria held a memorial ceremony in Abuja to honour those killed in the attack and remember the survivors.
Fifteen years after the bombing, Guterres said the organisation continues to carry the memory of those killed into its work.
“Today & every day, we remember the fallen & their families, and the survivors,” he said, “and continue to carry their legacy in our hearts & our work.”
On this day 15 years ago, the horrific terrorist attack on the United Nations House in Abuja claimed the lives of 23 people, including 11 @UN colleagues, and left many more injured.
Today & every day, we remember the fallen & their families, and the survivors — and continue to…
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 26, 2026
