Suspected jihadist fighters launched an overnight attack on a Nigerian military post on the outskirts of Maiduguri, marking the first such incident in years within the capital of Borno State, according to police, emergency officials, and local residents.
The attack occurred around midnight in the Ajilari Cross district, a southwestern suburb of Maiduguri located a few kilometres from the city’s airport. Residents reported hearing heavy gunfire as insurgents believed to be members of Boko Haram and its rival faction Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) targeted the military base.
Security forces quickly responded and repelled the attackers, restoring calm to the area by Monday morning, according to witnesses and emergency responders.
Police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso confirmed in a post on X that authorities received reports of a “foiled attack by suspected BH/ISWAP terrorists around Ajilari Cross.” He also disclosed that security forces thwarted another suspected terrorist attack in Damboa Local Government Area, located south of Maiduguri.
A spokesman for the Borno State emergency services told AFP that officials received reports of assaults by non-state armed groups but confirmed that they were successfully repelled by the military. No civilian casualties were reported.
Local residents said at least four suspected attackers were killed during the confrontation.
One resident, Mustapha Aminu, said gunfire erupted around 12:15 a.m. near the military base. “Later, we realised it was an attack by insurgents believed to be Boko Haram. We counted four corpses of the attackers,” he said.
Another resident, Yakaka Ali Gana, described the incident as unprecedented for the neighbourhood. “This is the first time attackers have stormed our community and attacked the military base,” he said.
The Nigerian military has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.
Insurgent groups Boko Haram and ISWAP have recently intensified attacks on military installations in northeastern Nigeria. Their 16-year insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million residents.
Although Maiduguri was once a frequent target of shootings and bombings during the peak of the insurgency in the mid-2010s, the city has experienced relative calm in recent years.
The last major attack occurred in 2021, when Boko Haram militants fired mortars into the city, killing ten people. In December, an unclaimed bombing at a mosque in Maiduguri also left at least seven people dead.
