Nigerian military forces killed more than 30 insurgents and facilitated the return of over 700 refugees from Cameroon during a week of intensified operations across the northeast, authorities said, as troops destroyed detention facilities capable of holding hundreds of captives and dismantled terrorist logistics networks in areas long controlled by Boko Haram and Islamic State affiliates.
Major General Michael Onoja, director of defence media operations, told reporters the successes followed aggressive intelligence-driven ground and air campaigns targeting Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and Jamaat Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad elements operating across Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states between January 31 and February 8. Joint operations involving Nigerian Air Force assets and local security groups produced what Onoja characterized as significant degradation of terrorist capabilities in multiple strongholds.
Troops conducting clearance sweeps January 30 in the Timbuktu Triangle, a notorious insurgent sanctuary straddling Borno and Yobe states, killed more than 20 fighters including a commander identified as Julaibib during heavy fighting around Kimba in Damboa local government area. The operation uncovered three major detention camps along the Damboa-Gujba axis capable of holding approximately 300 captives each, structures that security officials said terrorists used to imprison farmers, travelers, and women abducted during raids on surrounding villages. Troops destroyed the facilities and rescued 70 victims found at the sites, according to Onoja, who said many appeared malnourished and required immediate medical treatment.
Similar engagements occurred in Gwoza local government area of Borno and in Hong and Mubi North local government areas of Adamawa, where troops clashed with insurgent cells attempting to reestablish control over communities previously liberated during earlier military campaigns. Onoja provided no casualty figures for those operations but said they resulted in further terrorist deaths, arrests of logistics suppliers who procured food and fuel for armed groups, rescue of abducted civilians, and recovery of weapons including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and ammunition stockpiles. Air Force jets destroyed five suspected vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices along Marguna road in Kaga local government area of Borno through precision strikes conducted after intelligence identified the threats, preventing their potential use in suicide attacks against military convoys or civilian targets.
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In the same period, approximately 700 Nigerian refugees returned from Cameroon through the Banki border crossing in Bama local government area under military escort—the second batch repatriated in recent months as security improvements in formerly contested areas allowed displaced populations to contemplate returning home.
Many fled years ago when Boko Haram’s territorial expansion peaked in 2014-2015, overwhelming government forces and establishing control over swaths of northeast Nigeria before a multinational offensive pushed the insurgents back into Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad islands. Those refugees spent years in Cameroonian camps enduring difficult conditions while uncertainty about safety prevented earlier return despite periodic government assurances that liberated communities had been secured.
Sustained operations across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa also netted multiple arrests of individuals accused of supplying insurgents with food, medicine, fuel, and communication equipment, a logistics network authorities say enables armed groups to sustain operations despite military pressure. Onoja said troops recovered arms and ammunition during raids targeting supply routes and safe houses, though he did not specify quantities or types of weapons seized. He emphasized that degrading terrorist networks and improving security conditions for safe resettlement in the region remained Operation Hadin Kai’s primary objectives, noting that without stable security environments, displaced populations cannot return and reconstruction efforts cannot proceed effectively.
The northeast has endured more than 15 years of insurgent violence since Boko Haram launched its rebellion in July 2009, seeking to establish an Islamic state governed under strict Sharia law.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated local economies dependent on agriculture and trade. Internal fractures split Boko Haram into competing factions, with the Islamic State West Africa Province emerging in 2016 after a leadership dispute saw ISWAP pledge allegiance to the Islamic State caliphate and reject longtime Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who was killed in May 2021 during clashes with ISWAP fighters in Sambisa Forest.
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The splintering complicated military efforts as rival groups competed for territory and resources while maintaining parallel campaigns against government forces and civilian populations.
Recent weeks have seen intensified military activity following deadly attacks that killed more than 160 civilians in Kwara State’s Kaiama local government area on February 3, when gunmen affiliated with the Islamic State attacked Nuku and Woro villages after residents rejected demands to embrace Sharia law. President Bola Tinubu authorized launch of Operation Savannah Shield to flush out terrorist enclaves across Kwara and Niger states in response to that massacre, deploying additional troops and special forces to areas where insurgent presence had grown unchecked. The Kwara attacks, carried out by Lakurawa militants operating along the Nigeria-Niger border, signaled that jihadist violence previously concentrated in the northeast was expanding into Nigeria’s north-central region, prompting fears that insurgents were exploiting security gaps to establish new operational bases.
Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede conveyed condolences to Kwara State authorities and residents over the Kaiama killings, assuring that perpetrators would be tracked and eliminated. Military officials said troops have established robust security presence in affected areas and continue clearance operations targeting suspected hideouts, though no arrests or significant engagements have been announced since the attacks occurred nearly a week ago.
Operation Hadin Kai, launched in 2021 to replace previous counterinsurgency frameworks, coordinates military operations across the northeast with support from the Multi-National Joint Task Force comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin. The regional coalition conducts coordinated offensives targeting insurgent movements across porous borders and shared waterways around Lake Chad, where islands and reed-covered marshes provide cover for fighters evading capture. Despite years of military pressure and periodic claims of imminent victory, insurgent groups retain capability to conduct attacks, abduct civilians for ransom or forced recruitment, and tax populations in areas beyond consistent government control.
