Friday’s attack in Ngoshe, in Nigeria’s northeast, added to a security crisis in which armed groups have continued to carry out raids and abductions despite military operations and outside support, according to local officials and a military spokesperson. The attack, which officials said targeted a civilian area, resulted in the abduction of more than 300 people, including women and children.
Bulama Sawa, an official from the Gwoza area, said the militants struck the town of Ngoshe in Borno state on Friday. He told The Associated Press that the attackers were likely acting in retaliation for a military operation that killed three commanders of the militant Boko Haram group.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the Friday attack. Nigeria’s fight against insecurity involves multiple armed groups operating across different regions, and the abduction came amid ongoing efforts to respond to raids in communities across Borno state.
In a separate set of attacks earlier this week, Uba Sani, Nigeria’s military spokesperson, said troops were able to repel assaults in the communities of Konduga, Marte, Jakana and Mainok between Wednesday and early Friday. He said “a number of brave soldiers paid the supreme price in the line of duty,” alongside a senior officer, but he did not provide further detail on casualties.
Sani described the assaults as “failed attacks” and said they showed “increasing desperation of terrorist elements under sustained operational pressure” from the military. The remarks came as Nigeria faced a continuing pattern of attacks, with militant groups also drawing on tactics that can complicate rapid responses by security forces.
Ulf Laessing, with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said the Friday attack on Ngoshe exploited what he described as challenges for the Nigerian army in controlling large areas where jihadi groups operate. He said militants benefit from increased cross-border cooperation among their groups and the use of drones to scout targets before attacking.
Laessing said the conflict also reflects how fighters can move quickly and vanish before the army can react. “The army is fighting a ghost — fighters descending with motorbikes on villages and disappearing into the bush before the army can respond in time,” he said.
He also described how the landscape of armed groups extends beyond Boko Haram and includes factions tied to the Islamic State group, as well as other armed groups that carry out kidnappings for ransom and other criminal activities. Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups, he referenced Boko Haram and its breakaway faction affiliated with the Islamic State group, known as Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as the IS-linked Lakurawa.
Laessing also pointed to the emergence of additional militants from the neighboring Sahel region, including Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year. He said several thousand people in Nigeria have been killed, citing United Nations data, and he added that analysts say the government is not doing enough to protect its citizens.