By Punch Editorial Board, Monday April 2025
THE resurgence of the terrorist Boko Haram sect in parts of the North-East has set alarm bells ringing again. When Nigerians thought that the lawless group had been significantly degraded, it began to make a forceful comeback, in concert with ISWAP, leaving many astounded.
According to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, the renewed attacks indicate that the government is worse off.
He said, “As I address this important gathering today, it is unfortunate that the renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities, almost daily, without confrontation, signalled that Borno State is losing ground.”
Zulum lamented that the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in some LGAs, among other related killings of innocent civilians and security agencies, called for serious concern.
The Shehu of Borno, Abubakar el-Kanemi, hailed security agencies in the fight against terrorism, but emphasised that three LGAs of Guzamala, Marte, Abbadam and some parts of Mobbar were still under the total control of Boko Haram. He said most of those communities were without civil authority.
The Nigerian military, however, denied the governor’s assertions.
Bulama Bukarti, a security expert and senior fellow at the Extremism Policy Unit of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said, “We know that Boko Haram now operates unmanned drones. They survey military formations in the North-East with unmanned drones.”
These revelations are a sobering indicator that the deadly sect continues to expand its methods on various frontiers without being effectively challenged.
The situation is quite grim and dire for thousands of resettled persons in various Borno communities in Gwoza LGA and other places deemed to be safe.
Some of these communities are far-flung and are not regularly covered by security forces.
According to the Displacement Tracking Matrix for Nigeria round 43, over 2.2 million people remain internally displaced. Thus, the return of these terrorist groups poses a huge risk to the state government’s efforts to close all IDP camps by 2027.
Despite attempts by the government and the military to downplay the severity of Boko Haram’s resurgence, the senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, said it was unsettling to note the recent bloody attack on Yamtake, a resettled community in Gwoza LGA, which resulted in the death of two soldiers and an unspecified number of civilians.
Another disturbing factor to be considered is the strange decision of the Nigerian authorities to continue to rehabilitate so-called repentant Boko Haram members. The Nigerian Army has been running a Rehabilitation and Reintegration programme under Operation Safe Corridor.
Despite the existence of this programme, Boko Haram continues to attack military and civilian targets. In March, Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters struck an Army base in Borno State, killing four soldiers and setting military equipment on fire, Reuters reported.
They also attacked an outpost of the MJTF in Wulgo, killing 12 soldiers and injuring a dozen others.
On April 15, seven people were killed by the insurgents who attacked Banga and Larh communities in Hong LGA of Adamawa State with guns and explosive devices, causing human fatalities and bombing vehicles along their path.
On January 12, the sect killed 40 farmers in Dumba near Baga, Borno State. Since 2009, its deadly methods have left over 100,000 dead and more than two million displaced. On April 12, 2025, an IED dropped by the group on the Maiduguri-Damboa highway left eight civilians dead and 21 others injured.
The United Arab Emirates provided Nigeria with a list of Boko Haram sponsors, which Nigeria hid. In 2022, the UAE Federal Court of Appeals in Abu Dhabi convicted six Nigerians of transferring $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Therefore, the Bola Tinubu government must make decisive efforts to crush the Boko Haram commanders and rout the insurgents from areas where they have spread.
