Boko Haram sacks Borno town despite Tinubu’s claim of victory
More than 5,000 residents have fled to Cameroon after Boko Haram insurgents overran the border town of Kirawa in Borno State on Thursday, torching homes and a military barracks.
Reuters reports that the fighters set fire to the barracks while chanting “victory belongs to God” in a video claiming responsibility for the assault.
The attack comes just barely one day after President Bola Tinubu declared that Nigeria’s armed forces had “stamped out Boko Haram terror in the North-east” during his Independence Day broadcast on October 1 to mark the country’s 65th anniversary.
“We are winning the war against terrorism,” Tinubu said, praising the military for what he described as successes against Boko Haram, banditry, and separatist groups.
Mass Exodus From Kirawa
Abdulrahman Abubakar, the district head of Kirawa, confirmed that he fled alongside residents when the insurgents struck.
“I was left with no option but to flee to Cameroon,” Abubakar told Reuters. “Residents boarded trucks to seek refuge across the border, while others ran to Maiduguri.”
This week’s raid follows Monday’s assault on the same town, in which Boko Haram fighters killed two people and razed the district head’s residence, homes, vehicles, and heavy-duty equipment.
Since the beginning of 2025, insurgents have launched intensified attacks on both civilian and security targets in Borno, seizing army bases and local communities before being pushed back by reinforcements.
Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno State, has called for urgent deployment of troops to vulnerable border communities, including Kirawa, Wulgo, Baga, Damasak, and Malam Fatori.
Zulum said he held a meeting with senior commanders of Operation Hadin Kai, the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
“We agreed that troops will be deployed to Kirawa within a short period,” the governor said, while lamenting that earlier warnings about the dangers of leaving border towns unmanned had not been heeded.
