In a development that challenges long-held claims of progress in the fight against terrorism, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has publicly warned that Boko Haram is regaining strength and reclaiming territories across the North-East, raising critical questions about the current state of Nigeria’s security architecture.
Governor Zulum issued the warning during a briefing with the Nigerian Senate in Abuja on Tuesday, April 9, where he provided a firsthand account of recent insurgent movements in the state he has governed since 2019. “As I’m talking to you now, the military have withdrawn from Marte, Kukawa, and Guzamala,” Zulum said, referencing key local government areas once reclaimed by security forces in previous operations. “And we have started receiving people displaced from these localities again.”
The areas in question lie in northern Borno, a region that has borne the brunt of Boko Haram’s violence for over a decade. Kukawa, for instance, sits on the edge of Lake Chad—a vital corridor for insurgents operating across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. Guzamala and Marte are similarly strategic, serving as access points between the hinterland and Sambisa Forest, one of Boko Haram’s known hideouts.
Thousands of civilians, many of them returnees previously resettled after the military claimed victory in 2020 and 2021, are now being forced to flee again. “They don’t even have time to pack. They’re moving with only the clothes on their backs,” a local official in Monguno told The Herald. Humanitarian workers warn that a fresh displacement wave could overwhelm already strained camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially in Maiduguri and Dikwa.
Governor Zulum’s remarks highlight a concerning gap between federal security assurances and realities on the ground. Since 2023, the Nigerian military and government spokesmen have consistently promoted the narrative of “technical defeat” of Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province). However, Zulum’s testimony provides rare official confirmation that insurgents are not only surviving—but advancing.
More troubling is the governor’s revelation that many of the military outposts in the region have been abandoned, allowing insurgents to move in uncontested. “We need better technology, not just manpower. Drones, surveillance, satellite imaging,” Zulum urged. “You can’t fight a 21st-century war with 20th-century tools.”
Security experts say the timing of the resurgence is no coincidence. With the military overstretched across the country—tackling banditry in the North-West, separatist agitations in the South-East, and oil theft in the South-South—the Northeast may no longer be receiving the priority it once did.
“There’s a dangerous assumption in Abuja that the war in the Northeast is over,” said a retired intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The truth is, there is no vacuum in security. If the military leaves, insurgents move in.”
How is the federal government responding?
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Ministry of Defence nor the Nigerian Army has issued an official response to Governor Zulum’s statements. The Presidency has also remained silent, though pressure is building among civil society groups for urgent national dialogue on the military’s operational challenges.
This development underscores a larger fear—that Nigeria may be gradually ceding space to non-state actors. If insurgents re-establish control over parts of Borno, they could once again stage cross-border attacks, disrupt trade routes, and radicalize new recruits from among displaced populations.
The bigger picture
Governor Zulum’s honesty may be politically risky, but it signals a crucial shift in narrative. For too long, the Nigerian public has been fed assurances of security victories without full transparency. Now, with a sitting governor confirming a backslide, the government must confront the uncomfortable truth: the insurgency is far from over, and silence is no longer an option.
His call for modern warfare technology isn’t just a budgetary request—it’s a plea to recognize that conventional tactics can no longer contain an unconventional enemy. If Nigeria fails to act decisively, the gains of the last five years may soon become footnotes in a longer, darker chapter of the insurgency.
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