KEY POINTS
- Boko Haram/ISWAP launched a second overnight attack on the 29 Task Force Brigade in Benishiekh, targeting the same base overrun on April 9.
- Brig. Gen. O.O. Braimah and at least 17 soldiers died in the first raid; a colonel and six others were killed in a separate April 12 attack in Monguno.
- A 15-year-old suspect arrested after the April 9 raid warned troops that insurgents had 29 vehicles staged for their next operation.
Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents have launched a second midnight raid on Benishiekh, Borno State, hitting the same 29 Task Force Brigade headquarters they overran less than a week ago, when a brigadier general and at least 17 soldiers were killed.
The latest attack began around 11 p.m. Tuesday and was aimed squarely at the 29 Task Force Brigade of Operation Hadin Kai. That formation was the scene of one of the northeast’s bloodiest recent assaults.
The April 9 attack targeted the 29 Task Force Brigade Headquarters in Benisheikh, Kaga Local Government Area, in the early hours of Thursday.
At least 18 soldiers and Brig. Gen. O. O. Braimah were killed. Insurgents also burnt vehicles and buildings before withdrawing.
Military aircraft were spotted over Maiduguri within hours of Tuesday’s attack. The state capital sits roughly 75 kilometers from Benishiekh. Fighter jets and helicopters circled as security forces worked to assess the situation. Details of casualties from Tuesday’s raid were still emerging at the time of this report.
A commander confirmed dead, a base overrun
President Bola Tinubu expressed “deep sadness” and confirmed the death of Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah. The presidency praised the troops who fought to keep Boko Haram from overrunning local communities and pledged continued federal cooperation toward, in Tinubu’s words, “total victory.”
Two military sources told Reuters the base was actually overrun during a three-hour occupation. Air Force aircraft were deployed Thursday morning to evacuate the dead and assist in clearing the area.
The military’s official line characterized the attackers as desperate. Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja said the assault was “a clear indication of the desperation of terrorist elements who, having suffered significant losses in recent operations, continue to resort to futile and ill-fated offensives.” Local accounts and multiple intelligence sources told a different story.
Third strike in six days
Tuesday’s raid is the third significant insurgent attack on military targets in the region in less than a week. On April 12, Troops of Sector 3 of Operation Hadin Kai came under attack at a Charlie 13 location in Monguno.
The commanding officer drove out to personally assess the situation and struck an improvised explosive device, dying alongside six other personnel.
Suspect’s warning went unheeded
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai arrested a 15-year-old suspected Boko Haram member in Ngamdu, Kaga Local Government Area, following the April 9 attack.
The suspect said the attackers departed from Jilli village to carry out coordinated assaults on Benishiekh and Ngamdu before retreating. He also disclosed that the group had 29 vehicles available for their next mission.
Despite that intelligence, the brigade was targeted again Tuesday night.
Command structures under deliberate attack
Security analysts say insurgents appear to be targeting command infrastructure, not just patrol positions. Local experts noted that several military formations in the Tumbuktu triangle within the Sambisa Forest had been overrun, with insurgents deliberately picking locations meant to block their movements in that zone.
Nigeria remains in a multifaceted security crisis now spanning 17 years. The United States deployed 200 troops and drones this year to assist Nigerian forces, though American personnel are not engaged in direct combat.
UN data places the insurgency’s death toll in the hundreds of thousands, with at least 2 million people displaced.
The Defence Headquarters and Operation Hadin Kai had not issued an official statement on Tuesday’s attack as of this report.
