Nigeria strengthens security after Maiduguri bombings

Nigeria is on high alert after suicide bombings in Maiduguri killed at least 23 people and injured more than 100 on Monday evening. Authorities have deployed additional troops, with Boko Haram insurgents suspected to have carried out the attack, though no group has claimed responsibility.

CGTN Africa

Related story: Nigeria suicide attacks kill 23, wound more than 100

Gunmen kill at least 15 in attacks on two villages in northwestern Nigeria

Gunmen killed at least 15 people on Tuesday during attacks on two villages in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said.

The villages of Falale and Kadobe — neighbouring communities in the Jibia area of Katsina State — were attacked in the early afternoon, according to Nasir Mu’azu, the state’s Commissioner for Home Affairs.

Mu’azu said local security forces had previously killed three gunmen during a firefight in the area. In retaliation, gunmen carried out a reprisal assault on Tuesday that left at least 15 people dead.

“Security forces have since restored order and stabilized the situation,” he said in a statement. “We appeal to residents to remain calm and allow security forces to complete their investigation.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Armed groups, known as ‘bandits’, regularly carry out raids and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and north-central part of Nigeria.

Authorities have said the bandit groups include mostly former herders who took up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over increasingly strained resources.

Alongside attacks by bandits, Nigeria is also plagued by an insurgency fought by the Boko Haram extremist group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province. Both groups are mostly active in northeastern Nigeria.

On Monday, suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people and wounded 108 others in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

The security crisis in Africa’s most populous country has worsened recently to include other militants from the neighbouring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

Several thousand people in Nigeria have been killed, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say not enough is being done by the government to protect its citizens.

The U.S. sent troops last month to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity.

By Dyepkazah Shibayan, AP

Nigeria suicide attacks kill 23, wound more than 100

Multiple explosions staged by suspected suicide bombers rocked the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others, police said Tuesday.

The three blasts, which struck on Monday evening, came after an attack on a military post overnight Sunday to Monday, which authorities blamed on suspected militants.

Combined with the attack on the military position the evening prior and a mosque bombing in December, the assaults have wrecked a peaceful stretch in the city, which had become a relative oasis of calm as Nigeria's long-running insurgency was pushed to the rural hinterlands.

Fighters from Boko Haram and rival group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have recently stepped up attacks in northeastern Nigeria.

Their 16-year campaign to establish a caliphate in the country has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million.

"Preliminary investigation reveals that the incidents were carried out by suspected suicide bombers," police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said in a statement.

"Regrettably, a total of twenty three (23) persons lost their lives, while one hundred and eight (108) others sustained varying degrees of injuries," he added.

An anti-extremist militia member told AFP the death toll from the explosions in the city could be as high as 31.

An AFP reporter at a city hospital on Monday evening saw dozens of wounded people seeking treatment, as well as multiple bodies covered by sheets on the sidewalk outside.

The attackers struck the city's main market, the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and an area around the city's Post Office flyover.

Mala Mohammed, 31, who escaped the market blast said he initially heard two explosions and saw panicked people running.

"At that moment, we were not sure what had happened. But after about two or three minutes, other people who were running along the road started shouting that it was a bomb at the market entrance.

"Many of them ran toward the Post Office area because the market entrance and the Post Office are not far apart. Unfortunately, as they were running towards Post Office, the person who had the explosive device ran into the crowd while people were still trying to escape," said Mohammed.

'Barbaric' attacks

Police said in the early Tuesday morning statement that "normalcy has been fully restored in the affected areas" and that security forces have increased their "presence and surveillance across Maiduguri and its environs to prevent any further occurrences".

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum called the apparent bombings "barbaric" and said "the recent surge in attacks is not unconnected with intense military operations in the Sambisa forest," a known militant stronghold.

The earlier attack was launched around midnight Sunday into Monday, on a Nigerian military post in Ajilari Cross district, a southwestern suburb of Maiduguri and just a few kilometres (miles) from the city's airport.

That same evening there was an attack in the Damboa local government area, south of Maiduguri.

AFP

How Nigeria spent over N8bn on abducted school children in a decade

Nigeria’s worsening insecurity has continued to place school children among the most vulnerable targets of criminal gangs.

SBM Intelligence reveals a new analysis, showing that Governments in Nigeria have paid nearly N8 billion in ransom linked to school abductions between 2014 and 2025, reinforcing a cycle that continues to make schools attractive targets for armed groups.

The analysis, entitled “Monkey Business: Timeline of Nigeria’s Government Funding of School Abductions (2014–2025)”, tracks publicly reported ransom payments made by federal and state authorities following major school kidnapping incidents across the country.

The timeline shows how ransom payments have gradually become embedded in the response to mass abductions, even though Nigerian law formally prohibits negotiating with kidnappers.

The timeline begins with the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, after which the federal government reportedly paid N5 billion as part of negotiations.

In 2018, another set of 276 school girls were kidnapped in Yobe, and an undisclosed ransom was paid.

In 2020, 275 school girls were kidnapped in Katsina State and the Government paid N30 million, while in 2021, in Niger State 200 girls were abducted and the government paid N50 million, the same year in Niger State another 42 girls were abducted and a ransom of N15 million was paid.

In Kaduna State 39 school girls were kidnapped in 2021, and the sum of N32 million was paid, and in Zamfara in the same year 279 were kidnapped and N60 million paid.

In 2024, Kaduna State witnessed another school children abduction with 287 kidnapped and a ransom of N1 billion paid and in 2025, 327 school children were abducted in Niger State and the government paid N2 billion.

SB Morgen Intelligence report shows that more than N8 billion has been expended through ransom payments, security operations, negotiations, and emergency responses following a wave of mass school kidnappings that has shaken communities and disrupted education nationwide.

In Febrauary 2026, an AFP investigation report alleged that the Nigerian Government paid a huge ransom estimated at N2 billion or up to $7 million, to secure the release of 230 pupils abducted from St, Mary Catholic School in November 2025.

Intelligence sources told AFP the money was flown by helicopter to Boko Haram commander, Ali Ngulde in Gwoza, with two militant commanders freed as part of the deal.

The Government has strongly denied the claims. However, there is a history, since 2014, Nigerian governments have paid nearly N6 billion ($4.4million) in confirmed ransom payments to armed groups for kidnapped school children.

Federal and State Authorities both participated, despite laws prohibiting such payments. Each ransom funds the next abduction, turning education into a target and ensuring the cycle of violence continues.

Ike Chilaka-Osuagwu, an Educationist, described the scenario as worrisome, and a point to the fact that the government lacks the political will to curb banditry and kidnapping, especially against school children in the country.

Besides, he emphasised that as far as the Government continues to divert resources to pay ransom, economic development will continue to elude the country.

“The Government lacks the political will to end this nonsense. It will continue to affect productivity, and encourage diversion of funds and energy required to improve the economy,” he said.

Abductions are a long-standing pattern in Nigeria. Between July 2023 and June 2024 alone, SBM Intelligence, an Africa-centric security analysis and strategic consulting firm, found that at least 7,568 people were kidnapped in 1,130 cases across the country.

During this period, the kidnappers demanded approximately N11 billion (about $7.5 million) as ransom, and received N1 billion (about $0.65 million).

This is despite the fact that the Nigerian Senate outlawed ransom payments to kidnappers in 2022 and made abduction punishable by death.

According to the report, all these payments illustrate how kidnapping for ransom has evolved into a structured criminal economy targeting schools in the country.

By Charles Ogwo, Business Day 

Attackers kill at least 50, abduct women and children in Nigeria’s Zamfara state

At least 50 people were killed and several women and children abducted after armed men attacked a village in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, a state lawmaker told Reuters last weekend.

Hamisu A. Faru, lawmaker representing Bukkuyum south, said the attackers raided Tungan Dutse village from around 5 p.m. on Thursday until about 3:30 a.m. on Friday, burning down buildings and shooting residents who tried to flee.

“They have been moving from one village to another … leaving at least 50 people dead,” Faru told Reuters by phone.

He said the number of abducted victims was yet to be determined. Traditional leaders and local government officials were still accounting for the missing.

A Zamfara state police spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Abdullahi Sani, 41, a resident of Tungan Dutse, said three family members were killed in the attack.

“No one slept yesterday, we are all in pain,” he said.

A day earlier, residents contacted security forces and local authority when they saw more than 150 motorcycles carrying armed men. But the warning was ignored, Sani said.

Insecurity is a pressing concern in Nigeria and the government is under mounting pressure to restore stability.

There has been a surge in attacks blamed on “bandits”, who have carried out deadly assaults, abductions for ransom, and displaced communities across northern Nigeria.

Reuters

Desperation pushes communities in Nigeria to seal peace pacts with armed gangs

In northern Nigeria's Katsina state, persistent insecurity has led some communities to take drastic measures. A recent attack in a town occurred despite a local peace agreement with armed groups, highlighting the fragility of such deals. While authorities like the police do not endorse these arrangements, they reflect the extreme steps residents are taking to protect themselves when formal security measures fall short. CGTN explores this complex reality on the ground.

CGTN Africa

Related story: US to deploy 200 troops to train Nigerian forces in fight against terrorists

US to deploy 200 troops to train Nigerian forces in fight against terrorists

The United States will deploy 200 troops to Nigeria to train its armed forces in their fight against terror groups, Nigerian and US officials said on Tuesday, as Washington increases military cooperation with the West African country.

"We are getting US troops to assist in training and technical support," Major General Samaila Uba, a spokesperson for Nigeria's Defence Headquarters, told AFP.

The Wall Street Journal reported the deployment, which will supplement a small US team already in the country to aid the Nigerians with air strike targeting.

The additional troops, expected to arrive in the coming weeks, will provide "training and technical guidance," including by helping their Nigerian counterparts coordinate operations that involve air strikes and ground troops simultaneously, the US daily said.

A US Africa Command spokesperson confirmed the details of the report to AFP.

Nigeria has been under diplomatic pressure from the United States over insecurity in the country, which US President Donald Trump has characterised as "persecution" and "genocide" against Christians.

Although there are instances where Christians are specifically targeted, Muslims are also killed en masse, with Trump's senior adviser on Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos saying last year Boko Haram and Daesh "are killing more Muslims than Christians."

Abuja rejects allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria, a framing long used by the US religious right.

So do independent analysts, who point to a broader state failure to curb violence from these groups and armed gangs across swaths of sparsely governed countryside.

Despite the diplomatic pressure, Nigeria and the United States have found common ground in increasing military collaboration.

The US targeted terrorists in northwest Sokoto state with strikes in December, in a joint operation with Nigeria, officials from both countries said.

Going forward, the US military has said it will supply intelligence for Nigerian air strikes and work to expedite arms purchases.

While the 200-troop deployment represents a scaling up of that collaboration, "US troops aren't going to be involved in direct combat or operations," Uba told the Journal.

Nigeria requested the additional assistance, he added.

Africa's most populous country is battling a long-running insurgency concentrated in its northeast, while non-ideological "bandit" gangs conduct kidnappings for ransom and loot villages in the northwest.

AFP

Related story: US announces military team sent to Nigeria after recent attacks

Nigeria insecurity persists despite US military deployment

Nigeria insecurity persists despite US military deployment

CGTN examines the latest wave of violence in Nigeria alongside the limited presence of US military personnel in the country.

CGTN Africa

Survivors recount terror of Nigeria massacre where people were burned inside houses

 

First, the jihadists sent a letter saying they were coming to the village to preach, said Nigerian chief Umar Bio Salihu.

When no one attended, they went on a rampage, killing people and torching houses, he said.
Salihu is the traditional chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in west-central Nigeria where alleged jihadist gunmen are reported to have perpetrated a massacre late Tuesday.

Details were still emerging from the attack, but it was one of the country’s deadliest in recent months. According to the Red Cross, the death toll stood at 162 people, and the search for bodies was ongoing.

Badly shaken, Salihu recounted the night of terror he survived as the attackers killed two of his sons and kidnapped his wife and three daughters.

Around 5pm, the gunmen “just came in and started shooting”, the 53-year-old chief told Agence France-Presse on Thursday, clutching his Muslim prayer beads in his hand.

“All those shops that are within the road, they burnt them … Some people have been burned inside their houses,” he said.

Salihu survived by hiding in a house, then fled to the neighbouring town of Kaiama.

The attack lasted until 3am, he said.

“When the day breaks, the corpses we see, it’s too much,” he said.

Agence France-Presse reporters who visited Woro found it deserted except for a handful of men searching for bodies and burying the dead.

Large parts of the village had been reduced to piles of ash and rubble, with the remains of burned-out vehicles strewn across its dirt roads.

Resident Muhammed Abdulkarim said he had been standing by the road when he saw a group of what looked like soldiers in uniform approaching.

Then he realised they were “bandits”, he said.

“They started chasing people, catching people, tied them by their back,” he said.

“We just hear, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa. They are shooting them (in) their heads.”

Abdulkarim, 60, lost 12 family members in the attack, and his two-year-old son was abducted, he said.

Woro, a village of several thousand people, sits near a forest region known to serve as a hideout for jihadist fighters and armed gangs, groups that have fuelled nearly two decades of violence in Africa’s most populous country.

It is a Muslim community, but its residents want nothing to do with radicalised jihadist groups, said Salihu, the village chief.

“People don’t want to follow their ideology,” he said.

When a radical group sent a letter saying they planned to come to Woro to preach, no one attended, he said.

Salihu alerted the local security services.

“I think that is what brought the anger to come and just kill people like that in the community,” he said.

The governor of Kwara State gave the death toll from the attack as 75.

But residents reported burying upwards of 165 bodies.

The attackers kidnapped another 38 people, mostly women and children, said local assembly member Sa’idu Baba Ahmed.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu condemned the “beastly attack”, deploying an army battalion to the troubled region and blaming the Islamist movement Boko Haram - though the name was often used generically for jihadist groups in Nigeria.

Kwara State is racked by violence by armed “bandit” gangs and jihadist groups that have been extending their range from northwestern Nigeria farther south.

In October, the al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil in the state, near Woro.

Nigeria’s northeast is meanwhile the scene of long-running violence by Boko Haram and a rival offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Nigeria is broadly split between a Christian-majority south and a Muslim-majority north.

US President Donald Trump has alleged there was a “genocide” of Christians in Nigeria - a claim rejected by the Nigerian government and many independent experts, who say the country’s security crises claim the lives of both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.

Washington has alternately pressured and aided the Nigerian government in its fight against jihadist violence.

On Christmas Day, the United States launched strikes targeting jihadist militants in northwestern Nigeria.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the massacre in Woro as a “terrorist attack”, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

AP

Related story: Attacks on civilians in central and northern Nigeria kill nearly 200

Christian group says all abductees taken in Nigeria’s Kurmin Wali released

All 166 people who were kidnapped during an attack on a village and churches in Kurmin Wali in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna State last month have been released, the ⁠Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said.

Reverend John ​Hayab, chairman of the northern chapter of CAN, ‍said on Thursday that every abducted worshipper had now returned, without giving details on whether a ransom was paid or how the release was secured, the Reuters news agency reported.

It said CAN ‍leader in ⁠Kaduna, Reverend Caleb Maaji, also confirmed the release, saying he had just returned from the government house in Kaduna, where the governor is set to receive the worshippers.

“The stage is set for them to be brought … His Excellency will meet with ​them. This is a result of ‌the prayers we have offered,” he said.

Nigerian government officials have yet to comment publicly on the release.

However, Nigerian media reports cited Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, confirming the return of 82 of those who were kidnapped.

On the morning of January 18, gunmen known locally as bandits arrived in Kurmin Wali in numbers, armed with AK47 rifles.

They broke down doors and ordered people out of their homes and the village’s three churches, residents told Al Jazeera at the time.

The gunmen abducted 177 people, taking them into the forest, but 11 escaped their captors.

Initially, Kaduna State officials denied that an attack had occurred. Only two days later did government officials admit that an “abduction” had taken place, promising to help secure the villagers’ return.

The village chief told Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris at the time that the kidnappers accused the community of taking 10 motorcycles they had hidden in the bush, and demanded their return in exchange for the return of the villagers.

The assault on the village and churches in Kaduna was ‌among the latest in a string of mass abductions that have intensified pressure ‌on the Nigerian government.

Nigeria has ⁠also faced scrutiny from United States President Donald Trump, who has accused the country of failing to stop the persecution of Christians.

US forces ‌struck what they described as “terrorist” targets on December 25.

Abuja says it is working with Washington to improve security and ‍denies any systematic persecution of Christians.

Al Jazeera

Attacks on civilians in central and northern Nigeria kill nearly 200

Nearly 200 people have been killed by armed men ​in separate attacks in remote villages in central and northern Nigeria, a local lawmaker, residents and police said on Wednesday, as security forces searched for survivors and chased the attackers.

In central Kwara state, gunmen attacked the Woro community on Tuesday leaving at least 170 people dead, the lawmaker for the area Saidu Baba Ahmed said by phone.

It was the deadliest assault recorded this year in the district bordering Niger state, an area increasingly targeted by gunmen who ​raid villages, kidnap residents and loot livestock.

Ahmed said the gunmen rounded ‍up residents, bound ⁠their hands behind their backs and executed ​them. The lawmaker shared photographs of dead bodies with Reuters, which the agency was not immediately able to verify.

Villagers fled into surrounding bushland during the attack, he said. The gunmen torched homes and shops.

Police said "scores were killed," without giving a figure.

"As I'm speaking to you now, I'm in the village along with military personnel, sorting dead bodies ⁠and combing the surrounding areas for more," Ahmed said.

Several people were still missing ‍on Wednesday morning, he said.

Residents told Reuters the gunmen demanded during a sermon that locals ditch their allegiance to the Nigerian state and switch to Sharia Islamic ⁠law. When the villagers pushed back, the militants opened fire.

Kwara police spokesperson Adetoun ​Ejire-Adeyemi said the police and military have been mobilized to the area ​for a search-and-rescue operation, but declined to provide casualty details.

A 'cowardly expression of frustration'

Ayodeji Emmanuel Babaomo, the Red Cross secretary in Kwara state, told The Associated Press that hundreds of men attacked and scores were killed, but they did not have exact numbers because of the area's remoteness — about eight hours from the state capital and near Nigeria's border with Benin.

Footage from the scene on local television show bodies lying in blood on the ground, some with their hands tied, as well as burning houses.

Kwara Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in statement Wednesday the violence was a "cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells" in response to ongoing military operations against armed extremists in the state.

Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, with an insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions in recent months. Intercommunal violence is also prevalent in the central states.

Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area, told The Associated Press that Tuesday attacks in Woro and Nuku were carried out by the Lakurawa, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State group.

But James Barnett, a researcher at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, said the culprits were most likely a faction of Boko Haram that has been responsible for other recent massacres in the area. No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks.

The Nigerian military has said in the past that the Lakurawa has roots in neighbouring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria's border communities following a 2023 military coup.

Separate attack kills 13

In a separate attack in the northern ⁠Katsina state, gunmen killed at least 21 people, moving from house to house to shoot their victims, residents and local police said.

The attack broke ​a six-month peace pact between the community and the armed gang.

It also highlighted the dilemma faced by ​residents in Nigeria's remote north, where some have sought peace with the armed gangs that terrorize them. Residents typically ‍pool money and food, which they give to bandits so they are not attacked.

Last week, armed extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 36 people during separate attacks on a construction site and on an army base.

Nigeria has been under pressure ‍to restore security since U.S. President Donald Trump accused it last year of failing to protect Christians after numerous ‍Islamist attacks and ⁠mass kidnappings. U.S. forces struck what they described as terrorist targets on Dec. 25.

The Nigerian authorities say they are co-operating with Washington to improve security and have denied there is systematic persecution of Christians.

Reuters

Related story: US announces military team sent to Nigeria after recent attacks

Eighty kidnapped Nigerians return home after escape

Dozens of worshippers kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state have returned home weeks after their abduction, police have confirmed.

They were among 177 people seized last month from three churches in the remote village of Kurmin Wali.

The 80 people escaped on the day they were taken but hid in neighbouring villages for a fortnight "due to fear of being captured again", state police spokesman Mansur Hassan told the BBC.

The authorities say efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the remaining 86 people still being held. The attack was part of a wave of kidnappings for ransom affecting many parts of Nigeria, but no group has said it was behind the abductions.

The raid was initially denied by police, who only confirmed the kidnappings on 21 January after local residents had reported to the BBC that 177 worshippers were abducted, with 11 escaping shortly afterwards.

The official response drew criticism from Amnesty International, which accused Nigerian authorities of "desperate denial".

The rights group urged officials to "take immediate and concrete measures to prevent rampant abductions that are gradually becoming the norm in Nigeria."

In November, more than 300 students and teachers were taken from a Catholic school in Niger state, which neighbours Kaduna, before being released in two groups.

Nigeria faces multiple, overlapping security challenges beyond kidnappings, including an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist violence in the south-east, and frequent clashes between herders and farmers in central regions over land and water.

Security experts say efforts to tackle these crises are hampered by corruption, poor intelligence sharing, and underfunded local police forces.

The security situation has drawn international attention. In December, the US conducted airstrikes in north-western Nigeria on Christmas Day, targeting two camps run by an Islamist militant group.

Following the action, President Donald Trump warned of further strikes if attacks on Christians in the West African nation continued.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is home to more than 250 ethnic groups and is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a largely Christian south, with significant mixing in central regions.

The government maintains that people of all faiths have been victims of the widespread violence.

By Madina Maishanu, BBC

Related story: 'Blood was all over' - victim of Nigeria church abduction describes escape

Nigeria charges nine with 2025 massacre that killed 150

Nigerian prosecutors filed 57 terrorism-related charges on Monday against nine men ​accused of carrying out a deadly attack on ‌Yelwata community in Nigeria's central Benue state in June 2025 that killed ‌about 150 people.

Benue sits in Nigeria's volatile Middle Belt, the fault line between the Muslim north and Christian south. Years of violence over land, religion, and ethnicity have proved hard ⁠for the authorities ‌to rein in.

The charges, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, say the defendants ‍held planning meetings, raised funds, procured weapons, and mobilised fighters across several states ahead of the June 13 attack, one of the ​deadliest rural assaults in years.

The filing says ringleader Ardo ‌Lawal Mohammed Dono and others met in neighbouring Nasarawa state to raise cash, issue orders and recruit fighters. Several defendants are accused of supplying AK-47s, aiding the gunmen or providing safe sites for planning.

Prosecutors say the raid torched homes ⁠and caused heavy casualties in ​Yelwata in Benue's Guma district.

Plagued by ​Islamist attacks and mass kidnappings, Nigeria is under pressure to restore security since U.S. President Donald ‍Trump accused it ⁠last year of failing to protect Christians. U.S. forces struck what they described as terrorist targets on ⁠December 25. The Nigerian authorities say they are cooperating with Washington to ‌improve security.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Deadly jihadist attack kills dozens in northeast Nigeria, including soldiers

A jihadist attack blamed on Islamic State-aligned militants killed dozens of people in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, including soldiers, local sources told AFP, in the latest violence in the region.

The attack happened overnight in Sabon Gari in remote Borno state, which has been the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) offshoot rival since 2009.

More than 40,000 people have been killed and nearly two million others forced to flee their homes.

"The death toll runs into dozens," said Ibrahim Liman, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force militia that helps the Nigerian military against the militants.

"More bodies are still at the base while many soldiers are missing," he added.

Liman said 20 bodies, including those of five soldiers and 15 construction workers, and local hunters were taken to the general hospital in the nearby town of Biu.

Bukar Yamta Ali, secretary of a local hunters' group in Yamarkumi, near Biu, and two nurses at Biu hospital confirmed they had recovered bodies and wounded from Sabon Gari.

The victims were working on a road bridge that was destroyed last year in another jihadist attack, and were returning to their base when they were attacked.

Military and militia sources said on Tuesday that at least nine Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ISWAP ambush near Damasak near the border with Niger last week.

ISWAP emerged from a split with Boko Haram in 2016 and primarily targets Nigerian security forces, although civilians in the region have been caught up in the violence.

FRANCE 24

Nigerian Army rescues 11 kidnapped persons after 92 days in captivity, foils terrorist escape

The Nigerian Army yesterday said it rescued 11 kidnapped persons during a late-night operation along the Kaduna–Abuja Expressway after foiling an attempt by terrorists to move their captives through a bush route.

The army said the operation, carried out on January 26, 2026, was executed by troops of the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Doka, following intelligence obtained through surveillance.

In a statement, the army said its troops detected armed terrorists attempting to transport their captives through the Gidan Duna–Amale bush track under the cover of darkness.

It added that soldiers launched a swift pursuit using tactical vehicles and motorcycles, forcing the terrorists to abandon the victims and flee into nearby scrubland.

Five adult males, three adult females and three children were rescued during the operation. The army said the victims had been in captivity for 92 days, having been abducted from Gada Mallam Maman Community on October 26, 2025.

“The operation resulted in the successful rescue of five adult males, three adult females, and three children, who had been held in captivity since their abduction from Gada Mallam Maman Community on 26 October 2025,” the statement added.

The army described the operation as a demonstration of its effective use of modern surveillance technology combined with agile ground operations, stressing its commitment to denying criminal elements freedom of movement.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, yesterday announced a renewed alliance between the Nigerian Army and the Taraba State Government in an all-out push against terrorism and other forms of insecurity.

He spoke while receiving the Executive Governor of Taraba State, Agbu Kefas, alongside federal lawmakers and members of the Executive Council of the International Institute for African Defence, Security and Governance during a courtesy visit to Army Headquarters in Abuja.

Lieutenant General Shaibu said the army remained resolute in its constitutional mandate to support civil authorities in maintaining peace and security, noting that Taraba State occupies a strategic position within Nigeria’s security architecture because of its terrain and security dynamics.

He commended Governor Kefas for what he described as decisive leadership and effective coordination with security agencies, adding that the state government’s support — including the donation of land and provision of operational equipment — had served as critical force multipliers, significantly enhancing the tempo, reach and effectiveness of military operations in the region.

By Victor Gbonegun, The Guardian

'Blood was all over' - victim of Nigeria church abduction describes escape

There was a huge plaster on Sarah Peter's head to staunch the bleeding caused by the blow of a gunman's weapon.

Sarah, not her real name, was in church in a village in northern Nigeria on Sunday morning when attackers raided the compound to abduct the worshippers and take them away on foot.

The 60-year-old was whacked on the skull with a rifle to encourage her to move.

"Blood was all over," she said, her fingers brushing the area where the wound was.

"I suffered," she added, clearly still traumatised by what happened three days earlier.

"They kept dragging me even when I told them I couldn't walk. Then I hid somewhere until I couldn't see them any more. I was so weak I had to crawl back to the village."

Dozens of others were taken away from her branch of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church and two other churches in Kurmin Wali, a village 135km (84 miles) north of the capital, Abuja.

Although 11 people managed to escape, including Sarah, more than 160 people are still unaccounted for, according to the local branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

The remaining villagers have been left devastated and fear more attacks.

Authorities have not released any figures for those missing.

Kurmin Wali is near Kaduna state's Rijana forest, a hideout for armed gangs, known here as "bandits", who have been carrying out raids and abductions in the region.

No group has said it was behind Sunday's raid, but the attack is part of a wider security crisis in Nigeria, with kidnapping for ransom becoming more common.

Paying kidnappers is illegal in Nigeria but it is often suspected that money has been handed over to free those who have been abducted. In this case, no ransom demand has been reported.

There has been an increasing international focus on the issue after US President Donald Trump alleged last year that Christians were being targeted and killed in record numbers. Last month, the US military carried out air strikes on camps of suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria's north-west.

Nigerian officials have denied that Christians were being singled out because of their faith, and have said Muslims, Christians and those with no religion have all been affected by the insecurity.

There is an air of tension and anger in Kurmin Wali.

The village head said people had been living in fear for a while. Local residents have been urging authorities to improve security and have accused them of trying to suppress information in the wake of Sunday's raid.

Forty-eight hours of confusion followed the attack as officials initially denied anything had happened, despite eyewitness reports, only to finally confirm events on Tuesday evening.

"They told us not to give out any information, they want to intimidate us but we must tell our story. They have also been stopping some journalists from coming to the town," said a young man in his 20s, who wished to remain anonymous.

It is not clear why the authorities may have been reluctant for news to get out, but Kaduna state governor Uba Sani told the BBC that officials wanted to confirm details first before making any statements.

However, that does not explain why the local police chief and a state official initially denied there had been any attack, describing the reports as a "mere falsehood which is being peddled by conflict entrepreneurs who want to cause chaos".

The BBC also faced difficulties reaching Kurmin Wali, after a politician and security personnel attempted to block access to the village.

But we managed to get through and once inside, we found a scene of chaos in the building of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church. Colourful plastic chairs were on their sides, prayer books scattered on the floor and musical instruments broken, as if the moment after the attack had been frozen in time.

Nearby, Christopher Yohanna was looking forlornly at his two-year-old daughter. He said he managed to escape from the attackers with his child.

"We were in the church when we heard shouting. When we came out and tried to run, we saw that gunmen had already surrounded the village."

He was lucky not to be caught, but he is devastated because his two wives and other children were not so lucky.

"If my family is not with me then my life is worthless and free of any joy," he said.

Governor Sani was in Kurmin Wali three days after the attack, pledging to establish a military base, a hospital and a road in the area. He also announced relief measures for affected residents, including medical support.

"We cannot relocate them because they have to farm… but to ensure that we protect them going forward, we need to have a military base around that area between that village and Rijana forest," he told the BBC.

He also said efforts were under way to work with security agencies to rescue those still in captivity.

"When we met [the villagers] I affirmed that we are with them and… we will not let any of them down."

As the residents of Kurmin Wali wait anxiously for the return of their family members, they are hoping the governor keeps to his word.

By Madina Maishanu, BBC

Related story: Nigeria kidnapping: Residents fear for their safety

Nigeria kidnapping: Residents fear for their safety

Members of a community in northwestern Nigeria say they fear for their safety, days after their village was attacked. Gunmen abducted more than 170 people while they were attending church on Sunday. Officials say they are working to rescue those held captive. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Kurmin Wali in Kaduna state.

Al Jazeera

Nigerian police confirm gunmen abducted villagers, after initial denials

Police in Nigeria’s Kaduna State said that armed bandits abducted dozens of villagers over the weekend, after initially dismissing the incident.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Nigeria’s national police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, said an “abduction” had indeed occurred on Sunday, and that the police had launched security operations “with a clear focus on locating and safely rescuing the victims and restoring calm to the area”.

Hundeyin said the earlier denials by officers and other officials were “intended to prevent unnecessary panic while facts were being confirmed”. The police statement did not say how many people were abducted.

In an interview with The Associated Press news agency, Kaduna State lawmaker Usman Danlami Stingo put the number of missing people at 168.

The head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the northern part of the country, Reverend John Hayab, told the Reuters news agency by phone on Monday that at least 172 worshippers were kidnapped, and that nine later escaped, leaving 163 still missing.

Sunday’s raid is the latest in a wave of mass kidnappings targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Gangs, known in Nigeria as “bandits”, frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom, and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central parts of Africa’s most populous country.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Kurmin Wali village in Kaduna State, said dozens of gunmen stormed the village on Sunday as people gathered to pray in three churches and abducted a quarter of the village’s residents.

“Two days after the attack, the community received a demand,” Idris said.

“The bandits want the return of 10 missing motorcycles they hid in the bush. For now, that is the condition for the release of the captives. But Kurmin Wali residents say they don’t know where the bikes are, and they have been robbed to a point where many can hardly afford to feed themselves,” he said.

In November, armed gangs seized more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in the country’s Niger State, with 50 escaping and the rest being released in two batches weeks later.

Roughly evenly split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim-majority north, Nigeria is home to myriad conflicts, which experts say kill both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.

But United States President Donald Trump has latched onto the security situation in Nigeria, focusing on the killing of Christians and putting Abuja under diplomatic pressure.

In late December, the US launched strikes on what it and the Nigerian government said were armed groups in northwestern Sokoto State.

Nigeria said it approved the strikes.

By Ted Regencia, Al Jazeera

Related story: Nigeria police deny reports of mass church abductions in north

Nigerian troops free 62 hostages, kill two militants in northwest operations

MADUGURI, Nigeria, Jan 21 - Nigerian troops have rescued 62 hostages and killed two militants in separate operations across Kebbi and Zamfara states as part of an ongoing offensive against armed groups in the northwest, the army said on Wednesday.

The northwest has been hit by a surge in mass kidnappings carried out by armed gangs operating from forest hideouts. These groups have attacked villages, schools and places of worship, including the January 18 abduction of more than 160 worshippers from two churches in Kaduna.

Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba said troops stormed a known bandit hideout in Zamfara after receiving reports that captives were being held there.

The army said all 62 hostages were rescued and are in safe custody, with efforts underway to reunite them with their families.

In a separate operation, troops ambushed Lakurawa militants near the border between Kebbi’s Augie district and neighbouring Sokoto after receiving intelligence on the group’s movements, Osoba said.

Nigeria has come under scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump, who accused the country of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants operating in the northwest.

U.S. forces launched strikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day. The Nigerian government denies any systematic persecution of Christians, saying it is targeting Islamist fighters and other armed groups that attack both Christian and Muslim civilians.

The army added that the operations form part of broader efforts to dismantle armed networks responsible for widespread kidnappings and insecurity across the region.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

Nigeria boosts school security amid rising kidnapping threats

As students return for a new term, Nigeria is enhancing security at schools nationwide due to increasing threats of armed attacks and kidnappings for ransom, particularly in the north, where abductions and government-led rescues have become more frequent.

CGTN Africa