Boko Haram Commander Leads Massacre in Resettled Borno Community

By Adamu Aliyu Ngulde, Maiduguri

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Boko Haram commander Ali Ngulde led militants in a late-night assault on Darul Jamal, a resettled town near Banki on the Nigeria–Cameroon border, killing at least 63 displaced residents in one of the deadliest attacks in Borno this year.

Survivors said dozens of fighters stormed the community around 8:30 p.m. Friday, riding motorbikes, firing assault rifles and torching homes.

“They came shouting, shooting everyone in sight,” recalled Malam Isa Bukar, who escaped into the bush with his wife and three children. “When we returned at dawn, bodies were everywhere.”

Most of the victims were families recently relocated from the Government Secondary School displacement camp in Bama, which authorities shut down earlier this year under a controversial policy to close IDP camps and push residents back to their “ancestral lands.”

Local officials said 60 bodies had been recovered by Saturday morning, though more remain missing. Aid workers in Banki treated at least a dozen wounded survivors and warned the toll is likely to climb.

Humanitarian agencies condemned the killings, saying the massacre highlights the risks of resettling displaced people in areas still vulnerable to militant attacks.

“These are families who had already lost everything once,” said one aid worker. “To resettle them in places that are not fully secure exposes them to further tragedy.”

The attack underscores Boko Haram’s resilience and the reach of commanders like Ali Ngulde, even as Nigerian authorities insist the insurgency has been weakened. Darul Jamal, just miles from the Cameroon border, lies along a corridor militants have long exploited for cross-border raids.

“The government told us we would be safe here,” said Hajja Fati, a mother of five who lost her brother in the attack. “Now we are burying our people again.”

As of Saturday evening, the military had not issued a statement. Residents said troops from Banki only arrived hours after the militants withdrew.

Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, who visited the scene, confirmed that 63 people were killed in the assault.

The killings have rattled Borno and reignited questions about Nigeria’s ability to secure resettled communities amid an insurgency that has killed more than 35,000 people and displaced over 2 million since 2009.