Terrorists kill brigadier general, 18 soldiers in Borno

Terrorists have killed a brigadier general and at least 18 soldiers in a night assault on a military base in Borno State, the second killing of a high-ranking Nigerian army officer in five months.

The attack targeted a brigade base in Benisheikh, approximately 75 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri. Kaga Local Government Chairman Zannah Lawan Ajimi confirmed the death of the base commander.

“Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General O.O. Braimah, lost his life,” Ajimi said in a telephone interview, with two separate intelligence sources corroborating the account.

An intelligence source told AFP the attackers overran the brigade, killing at least 18 troops and setting vehicles and buildings ablaze before withdrawing. The army and Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters had not responded to requests for comment as of the time of filing.

Braimah’s death follows the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba by the Islamic State West Africa Province in November — the highest-ranking military official to die in the conflict since 2021.

The attack is the latest in a pattern of rising terrorist activity that researchers say has intensified since 2025. Maiduguri has suffered two suicide bombings since December, recalling the urban carnage that marked the insurgency’s peak a decade ago.

Nigeria has battled the jihadist insurgency for 17 years, since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising spawned powerful splinter groups, including ISWAP. The conflict, largely concentrated in the northeast, is now showing signs of geographic spread.

In the northwest, gunmen killed at least 90 people across remote villages this week, according to an AFP tally from local and humanitarian sources. Among the attacks was an assault in Kebbi State that police attributed to Mahmuda, a local terrorist group with Al-Qaeda links. Conflict monitor ACLED has recorded a surge in militant activity in the area, involving fighters affiliated with both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

In Kwara State, Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM claimed an attack in October, reinforcing longstanding warnings that the Sahel’s jihadist conflict is creeping southward toward coastal West Africa.

In December, the United States, with Nigerian assistance, conducted airstrikes in northwest Sokoto State targeting Islamic State Sahel Province fighters — a group primarily active in neighbouring Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

On Wednesday, the US State Department authorised non-emergency government employees to leave Abuja, citing the country’s deteriorating security situation.