Night of terror: Boko Haram faction kills 60 in Nigerian village attack

Dozens of people were massacred late Friday when Boko Haram militants stormed Darul Jamal, a community in Nigeria’s northeast where displaced families had only recently resettled, officials and residents said.

At least 60 people were killed in the assault, according to local resident Mohammed Babagana. Borno state governor Babagana Zulum, who visited the village on Saturday, confirmed the death toll, telling reporters that homes were destroyed and livelihoods lost.

“We sympathise with the people and have pleaded with them not to abandon their homes,” Zulum said, promising tighter security and emergency supplies.

Bama local government chairman Modu Gujja said more than a dozen houses were torched and over 100 villagers fled.

Taiwo Adebayo, a researcher specialising in Boko Haram at the Institute for Security Studies, spoke to residents of Darual Jamal and said the killings on Friday night were carried out by a faction of Boko Haram known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad.

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Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbours, including Niger, and resulted in the death of around 35,000 civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million others, according to the United Nations.

Boko Haram split into two factions after the death of the group’s longtime leader, Abubakar Shekau, in 2021.

One faction is backed by the Islamic State group and is known as the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. It has become notorious for targeting military positions.

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The other faction, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, or JAS, has increasingly resorted to attacking civilians and perceived collaborators and thrives on robberies and abductions for ransom.

“When JAS attacks and kills a lot of people like they did last night in Bama, it’s usually that they suspect the victims of spying for the rival ISWAP or the military,” Adebayo told the AP.

The Bama local government area was the target of several Boko Haram attacks a decade ago, forcing many residents to flee. Following military operations in the area in recent years, authorities had resettled displaced people in several communities, most recently the village of Darul Jamal in July.

Kaana Ali, a Darul Jamal resident, said he decided to leave the community for good after he confirmed the deaths of close family friends in the attack on Friday. “But the governor is still begging us to stay back as more protection would be provided to secure our community,” he said.

With inputs from agencies