The so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgent group has launched its most successful military campaign to date in northeast Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin region. Throughout May, ISWAP raided a series of supposedly impenetrable army bases, forcing the military’s withdrawal and the displacement of civilian communities—some of whom had been recently resettled by the Borno State government following its closure of internally displaced persons camps in the state capital, Maiduguri.
This renewed campaign highlights the major challenge increasingly posed by Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked extremist groups across West Africa: insurgents who are now better equipped, including with armored vehicles looted from the military, and utilizing new innovative tactics, such as near-simultaneous attacks on disparate sites.
Condensed excerpt from The New Humanitarian, June 2. Internal links added.
Photo via TNH
Nigeria: government abandonment amid brutal insurgency
Amnesty International stated on May 29 that Nigerian authorities have failed to protect their population from violent attacks carried out amid the ongoing armed conflict. The organization emphasized that the Nigerian government’s ineffective response to these attacks has resulted in a rising death toll and worsened the humanitarian crisis.
Amnesty noted that over 10,000 civilians have been killed in assaults by non-state armed groups across Nigeria since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023. (Jurist)
Nigeria terror attack sparks renewed demands for accountability
Amnesty International Nigeria condemned the invasion of the Yelewata farming community that resulted in the death of approximately 200 people, calling on authorities to immediately act to end the violence. The statement came after gunmen attacked the community in the Nigerian state of Benue late June 13 amid a wave of “alarming escalations of attacks across Benue state.” (Jurist)
Death toll rises in Nigeria mosque attack
The death toll from an attack by gunmen on a mosque and nearby homes in Nigeria’s northwest Katsina state has risen to at least 50, with around 60 others abducted, local officials say.
The attack occurred early Aug. 19 in the remote community of Unguwan Mantau, in Malumfashi district, as Muslim worshippers gathered for Fajr, the dawn prayer. Witnesses reported that armed assailants arrived on motorcycles, opening fire inside the mosque before moving through the village. (Reuters)
Nigeria Qaeda leaders apprehended
The alleged leaders of one of the country’s main jihadist groups—Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (commonly known as Ansaru)—have been arrested. Mahmud Muhammad Usman and Mahmud al-Nigeri were captured during a “targeted operation” between May and July, the government has revealed.
The Qaeda-linked group has been active in northwest and north-central Nigeria, and was behind a brazen 2022 jailbreak in the capital, Abuja, that temporarily freed hundreds of inmates. (TNH)
UNICEF condemns abduction of students in Nigeria
UNICEF condemned on Nov. 18 the armed attack on a girls’ school in the Maga community of Kebbi state in Nigeria, which led to the death of the vice principal and the abduction of 25 students. (Jurist)
Since the mass abduction of the Chibok girls in April 2014, reports have determined that 1,683 students have been kidnapped in Nigerian schools through December 2022. Many who have been released have continued to face stigmatization and forced internment by the government.
Another mass abduction of students in Nigeria
More than 300 children and staff are now thought to have been kidnapped Nov. 21 by gunmen from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, making it one of the worst mass abductions the country has seen. The Christian Association of Nigeria said 303 students and 12 teachers were taken from on St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger state—substantially more than previously estimated. (BBC News)
Nigeria urged to protect victims of school abductions
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Nov. 25 urged the Nigerian authorities to take urgent measures to secure the release of victims of a recent mass school abduction. HRW denounced the mass abduction of hundreds of students and teachers in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions, describing them as deliberate attacks on education and fundamental rights.
On Nov. 18, unidentified armed men kidnapped 25 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State. Just three days later, another 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State. Fifty of the 303 children have since escaped captivity, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria. Authorities later said that all those taken in Maga have been rescued. (Jurist)