Resident of Darul Jama says army was warned for 3 days about Boko Haram massing close to village however did nothing.
Printed On 6 Sep 2025
Fighters have slaughtered a minimum of 55 individuals in an assault on a village in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State the place individuals had lately returned after years of displacement.
Residents of Darul Jama, situated close to the border with Cameroon, stated the raid occurred on Friday night time and fighters believed to be from Boko Haram arrived on motorbikes, taking pictures indiscriminately and setting houses ablaze.
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Accounts on the variety of deaths diverse. Babagana Ibrahim, a commander of a government-aligned militia, instructed the information company AFP that 55 individuals have been killed, together with six troopers.
The standard head of Darul Jama, who requested anonymity, instructed the Reuters information company that 70 our bodies had been recovered by Saturday morning and extra residents have been nonetheless lacking within the surrounding bush.
“They went home to deal with, killing males and leaving girls behind. Virtually each family is affected,” he instructed the company, including that greater than 20 homes and 10 buses have been destroyed.
Nigeria’s army stated it has stepped up operations in Borno State in current months to attempt to comprise militias and fighters from Boko Haram and its splinter group, the ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The world is believed to be beneath the management of a Boko Haram commander named Ali Ngulde, in response to AFP, which quoted a safety supply as saying he led the assault.
Resident Babagana Mala, who fled with troopers to Bama city, 46km (29 miles) away, stated the army had been warned for 3 days about Boko Haram gathering close to the village however no reinforcements have been despatched.
“They overwhelmed the troopers, who fled with us to Bama,” he stated.
Most of the victims have been recognized to be households lately relocated from the Authorities Secondary College displacement camp in Bama, which authorities shut down this yr.
“The federal government instructed us we’d be protected right here,” stated Hajja Fati, a mom of 5 who misplaced her brother within the assault. “Now we’re burying our individuals once more.”
The assault raises questions on Nigeria’s push in recent times to shut down camps for displaced individuals and return them to the countryside.
Boko Haram has been waging a bloody struggle to ascertain a caliphate in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing about 40,000 individuals and forcing greater than two million individuals to flee their houses.
ISWAP cut up from the group in 2016.
In keeping with a tally by Good Governance Africa, a nonprofit, the primary six months of 2025 noticed a resurgence in exercise from armed teams. It charted about 300 assaults – primarily from ISWAP – that killed about 500 civilians.