At least 55 people were killed on the evening of Friday, September 5, 2025, in a brutal terrorist attack in Darul Jama, a town in northeastern Nigeria near the Cameroon border. Initial reports suggest the death toll could be higher, with both civilians and soldiers among the victims.
Witnesses described the assault as sudden and violent.
Armed assailants, arriving on motorcycles at nightfall, opened fire indiscriminately while setting homes ablaze.
“They arrived shouting and shooting at anything that moved,” said Malam Bukar, a survivor who fled with his family. “When I returned, I found bodies everywhere.”
The attack struck a sensitive area near a military base. Local militia commander Babagana Ibrahim reported that six soldiers were among those killed, while an NGO worker suggested the overall number of victims could be as high as 64.
Access to the remote border area has complicated efforts to verify the exact toll.
Among the victims were families recently displaced from Bama, where a refugee camp was closed earlier this year. Hajja Fati, a mother who lost her brother in the attack, described the devastation: “The government told us we would be safe here. Now we are burying our loved ones again.”
The assault is believed to have been carried out by Boko Haram militants under the leadership of Ali Ngulde, a known commander active in the Cameroon border region. Ngulde has orchestrated operations targeting both civilians and security forces, according to a security source cited by AFP.
Groups affiliated with Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), continue to stage attacks across northeastern Nigeria despite a decline in violence since the peak of 2013-2015.
The attack underscores the ongoing fragility of security in the region. Since 2009, the jihadist insurgency has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced around two million people, according to United Nations estimates. For internally displaced communities, Darul Jama serves as a tragic reminder that areas deemed safe remain vulnerable to sudden and lethal attacks.
Authorities have not yet released an official statement, while local and international aid organisations continue to provide support to survivors and help assess the full extent of the devastation.
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