Boko Haram Strikes Again: 35,000 Dead, Nigeria Faces Dire Setback

Boko Haram Strikes Again: 35,000 Dead, Nigeria Faces Dire Setback

Boko Haram is striking fear once more in Nigeria’s northeast, launching fresh waves of deadly attacks that have left residents traumatized and security forces overwhelmed. As their violence escalates, the Nigerian military finds itself stretched thin, sparking fears that the region may be slipping back into the dark days of unchecked insurgency.

From torching villages to ambushing troops, Boko Haram fighters are making their presence felt across Borno State and beyond. In a recent assault on Gajibo, nine local militia members were killed. These men, loyal to the military and tasked with defending their own people, died after Nigerian soldiers reportedly abandoned the base upon detecting an approaching convoy of insurgents.

The villagers left behind have had to pick up the pieces. “We buried them ourselves,” said a grief-stricken aid worker who helped retrieve the bodies. “There was no military, no help. Just silence.”

This silence, especially from the Nigerian military leadership, is deepening the wounds. Although top commanders recently visited Gamboru near the Cameroon border and promised reinforcements, many locals have heard such promises before.

Since January, Boko Haram has overrun more than 15 military bases, according to security reports reviewed by experts. The once-diminished group now appears to be reorganizing and resupplying — and worse, winning.

Analysts point to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, known as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), as the driving force behind these deadly tactics. Unlike their more chaotic sister faction Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), ISWAP has displayed chilling strategic discipline.

“They’ve mastered surprise attacks,” said Malik Samuel, a senior researcher with Good Governance Africa. “Their decentralized structure lets them hit multiple regions at once. This isn’t ragtag violence. It’s a calculated plan.”

ISWAP now uses modern warfare methods — nighttime raids, rapid ambushes, and even drones. These modified commercial drones, experts say, are dropping explosives with precision, tactics straight out of the Islamic State’s playbook in Iraq and Syria.

“They’ve gotten help from outside,” Samuel explained. “You can see it in their operations.”

In Borno’s Dikwa town, a hotspot in the crisis, the army is barely holding on. Ali Abani, who works with a local nonprofit, described a desperate situation.

“Soldiers are too few,” he said. “Their camps are too far from each other. When the militants come, they just overwhelm them.”

In one attack on May 12, Abani said militants stormed a base in full force. The soldiers, outgunned and outnumbered, had no choice but to run. Once they fled, Boko Haram fighters carted away rifles, ammunition, and equipment — resources that would be used in future raids.

These stories are no longer rare. They are part of a larger pattern — one that points to a weakened military and a strengthened insurgency.

Security analysts have raised alarm about how former fighters, once thought to have repented, are now acting as double agents. Some serve as informants. Others help transport food, fuel, and intelligence.

“The system isn’t working,” said a local humanitarian worker who asked not to be named. “We don’t know who to trust anymore.”

More than 35,000 civilians have been killed since Boko Haram began its violent campaign in 2009. The group’s aim was to stop Western education and force Islamic law on Nigerians. What started as a fringe ideology has now spiraled into one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts.

At its peak in 2013 and 2014, Boko Haram captured an area the size of Belgium. The world took notice after they kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok — a horrifying act that sparked the global “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign.

While the military later reclaimed much of that territory, this new wave of violence is erasing years of progress. The extremists have returned to night attacks on towns like Rann, Buni Gari, Monguno, and Wajiroko. Residents in these towns say they now sleep in shifts, scared that gunfire or explosions could tear through their homes at any moment.

One mother in Sabon Gari said she no longer sends her children to school. “I would rather have them alive and uneducated than dead and buried,” she said.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State recently sounded the alarm, saying militants are “dislodging military camps almost daily.” His warning adds to a growing chorus of federal lawmakers urging President Bola Tinubu’s government to act swiftly and decisively.

But on the ground, people remain unconvinced. Despite media statements, there’s little visible change. Each new Boko Haram attack chips away at public faith.

Many Nigerians now wonder: Is the military losing this war?

The military has yet to respond to mounting questions about troop shortages, poor morale, or the alarming rate at which outposts are falling. The government continues to speak of deploying more troops, but these promises are met with skepticism.

In the meantime, civilians carry the burden of survival. Children go to sleep hearing gunshots. Parents live in fear of abductions. Farmers no longer tend their fields. Schools remain empty. The trauma is everywhere.

Boko Haram, once thought to be weakened, has come roaring back — bolder, deadlier, and more organized. And as the military struggles to regroup, millions across Nigeria’s northeast are left asking a painful question: how much longer can we hold on?

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