At least 55 people have been killed in an attack by the armed group Boko Haram on Darul Zama village in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State. The villagers had only recently returned after being displaced for several years.
Residents of Darul Zama, near the Cameroon border, said the attack took place on Friday night. Boko Haram militants arrived on motorcycles, opened fire indiscriminately, and set houses ablaze.
Different casualty figures have been reported. Government-backed militia commander Babagana Ibrahim told AFP that 55 people, including six soldiers, were killed in the assault.
Darul Zama’s traditional chief told Reuters that as of Saturday morning, 70 bodies had been recovered, while many residents remained missing in the surrounding bushes.
“They went house to house killing men and sparing women. Almost every family has been affected. More than 20 homes and 10 buses were destroyed,” he said.
The Nigerian military said it has intensified operations in Borno State in recent months to suppress Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISIL’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Quoting a security source, AFP reported that the area is believed to be under the control of Boko Haram commander Ali Guldar, who allegedly led the attack.
A resident named Babagana Mala, who fled with soldiers to the town of Bama, 46 km (29 miles) away, said the military had been warned for three days about Boko Haram’s gathering near the village, but no reinforcements were sent.
“They overpowered the soldiers, who fled with us to Bama,” he said.
Many of those killed were members of families recently relocated from Bama’s government secondary school displacement camp, which authorities shut down earlier this year.
Hajja Fati, a mother of five who lost her brother in the attack, said: “The government told us we would be safe here. Now we are burying our relatives again.”
The attack has raised questions about Nigeria’s recent efforts to close displacement camps and return people to their villages.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has waged a bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to establish a caliphate. Around 40,000 people have been killed and over 2 million displaced. ISWAP split from Boko Haram in 2016.
According to data from the nonprofit Good Governance Africa, armed group activity has resurged in the first half of 2025. It recorded nearly 300 attacks, most of them carried out by ISWAP, killing about 500 civilians.
