More than 5,000 residents of Kirawa, a border town in Borno State, have fled into Cameroon after Boko Haram militants overran the community in a fierce overnight assault.
The insurgents reportedly stormed the town on Thursday night, setting fire to homes, a military barracks, and the palace of the district head, Abdulrahman Abubakar.
“I was left with no option but to flee to Cameroon,” Abubakar said, confirming that most residents escaped either across the border or toward Maiduguri, the state capital.
Videos released by Boko Haram show armed fighters torching the barracks while chanting, “Victory belongs to God.” Witnesses said the town was now almost empty.
“Boko Haram is in control,” said Dauda Hassan, a local who managed to flee to Pulka, another nearby town with military presence.
The latest assault follows a September 19 attack on Banki, another border town, where militants seized weapons after overrunning a military base.
Local leaders have since urged the Nigerian military to send reinforcements, warning that only vigilantes and a few residents remain to defend the area after a multinational force withdrew in August.
Security experts say the attack fits a disturbing pattern of renewed Boko Haram and ISWAP offensives across Borno this year.
Since early 2025, insurgents have briefly captured several communities and military bases before troops regained control.
Meanwhile, former President Goodluck Jonathan reflected on the long-running insurgency during the public presentation of “Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum”, a book by ex-Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, in Abuja.
Jonathan revealed that Boko Haram once nominated Muhammadu Buhari to represent them in peace talks during his presidency.
“One of the committees we set up then told me Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team for negotiations,” Jonathan said.
“I thought that when he later became president, peace would follow, but the insurgency still continued.”
The former president also hinted at foreign support for Boko Haram, noting their use of advanced weapons.
“If you look at the weapons they use, you’ll know these are not hungry people,” he added.
He called for a comprehensive documentation of the insurgency, including testimonies from former fighters, to better understand the conflict’s roots.
Since its rise in the early 2000s, Boko Haram has carried out mass abductions, bombings, and attacks across Nigeria’s northeast, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.
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