Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Boko Haram insurgents launched a coordinated late-afternoon attack on a Forward Operating Base in the Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, killing at least six newly recruited soldiers, leaving several others missing, and injuring a leader of the Civilian Joint Task Force. Local eyewitnesses, including Umar Wakil and a local vigilante member, reported that the attackers caught the newly deployed troops unprepared, setting fire to military vehicles and a primary school that served as the soldiers' temporary camp while intentionally sparing civilian bystanders. Following the incident, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Buba Edward, confirmed that troops suffered operational setbacks and announced that an official inquiry had been initiated to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack, while attempts to reach the spokesperson for Operation Hadin Kai, Lieutenant Colonel A.Y. Jingina, were unsuccessful.

Two soldiers died while successfully preventing coordinated terrorist attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in the New Marte and Kumshe areas of Borno State. According to a statement by Captain Reuben Kovangiya, the acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations for the Theatre Command of Operation Hadin Kai, the ground troops and air component worked together to push back the insurgents using heavy gunfire and offensive aerial fire support. The combined military effort successfully decimated several fleeing terrorists. In a related event at the Forward Operating Base in Kumshe, the troops blocked another aggressive assault. To secure the areas, reinforcements from the 24 Task Force Brigade Garrison and the 134 Special Forces Battalion were quickly deployed to assist. During search operations after the battles, the soldiers recovered an abandoned sport utility vehicle packed with explosives and destroyed multiple motorcycles used by the insurgents. Troops also discovered numerous dead bodies and blood trails left by the retreating terrorists along their escape routes. Captain Reuben Kovangiya emphasized that the strong teamwork between the ground and air forces was essential to stopping the infiltration, and he restated the military's firm determination to keep up the pressure against terrorism to bring lasting peace and restore economic activities to the north-eastern region of Nigeria.

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum and the federal government have publicly disagreed over a resurgence of violent attacks by Boko Haram insurgents. During a security meeting in Maiduguri, Governor Zulum warned that the state is losing ground due to continuous killings, abductions, and the dislodgment of military bases by terrorists. In response, the federal government through the Minister of Information and National Orientation maintained that security agencies are working tirelessly around the clock and that massive investments in military hardware are successfully returning the nation to normalcy. Military authorities echoed these assurances, stating the heavy sacrifices made by troops on the front lines and urging public support, while security experts and traditional leaders emphasized the urgent need for enhanced border security and decisive action against the renewed insurgency.