The early morning sun had barely crested over the horizon when the explosions ripped through the convoy. Two vehicles, reduced to smouldering metal in seconds. Twenty-six lives extinguished in a flash of improvised explosive power. This wasn’t some distant conflict zone—this was Borno State, Nigeria, on Monday 26, April 2025.
It marked yet another deadly episode in what security experts now recognise as an alarming resurgence of jihadist violence in Africa’s most populous nation. A wave of sophisticated, coordinated attacks has swept through Nigeria’s northeast, leaving death and renewed fear in its wake.
The Deadly Dance
“The bodies were everywhere,” recalls Ibrahim Musa, a local trader who witnessed the aftermath of one weekend raid that claimed 22 lives across Adamawa and Borno states. “We thought the worst was behind us.”
But the worst, it seems, has returned with vengeful intensity. Since January 2025, dozens have perished in a series of calculated strikes by Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The twin insurgent groups have unleashed a campaign that security analysts describe as technologically sophisticated and strategically ominous.
“We’re witnessing an evolution in tactics,” explains James Barnett, a Hudson Institute research fellow specialising in Nigerian security challenges. “Both groups have become bolder and are showcasing technology that wasn’t as prevalent before.”
Perhaps most alarming is ISWAP’s deployment of armed drones against a Nigerian military outpost near the Cameroon border this March—a technological leap that signals the group’s growing capabilities and external support network.
A Fragile Truce, A Deadly Focus
The renewed violence emerges from an unexpected development: a temporary cessation of hostilities between Boko Haram and ISWAP themselves. Since their acrimonious split in 2016, the two factions have frequently turned their weapons on each other, competing for territory, resources, and ideological supremacy across northeastern Nigeria.
“They are less busy fighting each other now,” observes Vincent Foucher, a research fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research who tracks the insurgency. “This gives them more time to focus on external attacks.”
This tactical pivot has allowed both groups to redirect their energies toward a common enemy—the Nigerian state and the civilians under its ostensible protection. Meanwhile, shadowy connections to international extremist networks have bolstered their operational capacities.
The Politics of Vulnerability
Against the backdrop of bullet-riddled villages and bomb-cratered roads, a political drama unfolds. In Borno State—ground zero for an insurgency now entering its seventeenth year—Governor Babagana Zulum has grown increasingly vocal about the federal government’s failures.
“The insurgents are regrouping in the Lake Chad Basin and Sambisa Forest,” Zulum warned publicly on April 24, 2025, his frustration palpable as he called for intensified military operations near the Cameroonian border.
His statements reflect a deeper political fracture: the tension between state governments bearing the brunt of the violence and a federal administration struggling to project power across Nigeria’s vast territory. This federal-state discord has long undermined a cohesive response to the insurgency.
The political calculus is further complicated by competing security priorities. While northeastern Nigeria bleeds, the federal government divides its attention between banditry in the northwest, separatist agitation in the southeast, and economic challenges nationwide. Security resources—already strained—are stretched perilously thin.
“Nigeria’s security architecture was never designed to simultaneously address insurgency, terrorism, banditry, and separatism,” notes Dr. Abubakar Mohammed, a defence analyst at Ahmadu Bello University. “The system is buckling under multiple pressures, creating spaces for non-state actors to thrive.”
Power in the Shadows
While the Nigerian military issues periodic reassurances about containing the threat, ISWAP has quietly established parallel governance structures in areas beyond state control. The Institute for Security Studies documented the group’s evolution from mere insurgents to proto-state operators—complete with taxation systems and rudimentary courts.
“They aren’t just challenging the state militarily; they’re replacing it administratively,” explains Malik Samuel of Good Governance Africa. “This dual approach—violent disruption paired with alternative governance—has proven effective in areas where government services are absent or minimal.”
This strategy taps into a fundamental political reality: the Nigerian state’s legitimacy crisis in peripheral regions. Decades of perceived neglect, corruption, and ineffective governance have created fertile ground for extremist alternatives.
The Geopolitical Chessboard
Nigeria’s jihadist resurgence doesn’t exist in isolation. The Lake Chad Basin represents a complex geopolitical theatre where the interests of multiple nations—Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon—intersect with those of global powers concerned about regional stability and transnational terrorism.
The Islamic State’s apparent technical support to ISWAP signals an internationalisation of the conflict that complicates any purely national solution. Intelligence sources suggest foreign advisors have enhanced ISWAP’s capabilities, particularly in explosives technology and coordinated assault tactics.
“What we’re seeing is a localised insurgency with increasingly global connections,” says Dr. Fatima Akilu, executive director of the Neem Foundation, which works on preventing violent extremism. “It represents a convergence of local grievances with international extremist networks.”
The Human Cost
Behind the geopolitical calculations and security analyses lies an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. According to the United Nations, the insurgency has claimed over 40,000 lives since 2009 and displaced more than 2.1 million people.
Aid organisations report deteriorating conditions across the northeast. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted in March 2025 that ongoing violence has cut off 1.2 million people from humanitarian assistance in Borno State alone. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme warns that 4.8 million people in the region face acute hunger.
“The recent violence has created a perfect storm of suffering,” says Hadiza Ibrahim of the North East Development Initiative. “People are caught between insurgent violence and diminishing aid access. Many feel abandoned by both their government and the international community.”
Beyond Military Solutions
As bodies continue to accumulate across Nigeria’s northeastern landscape, experts emphasise that military force alone cannot resolve the crisis. The jihadist resurgence stems from complex political, economic, and social roots that require equally multifaceted responses.
“Military action alone won’t solve this,” insists Barnett. “The government must invest in communities to undercut the groups’ appeal.”
This reflects a growing consensus among security analysts: lasting peace requires addressing the governance deficits and development challenges that make extremist narratives appealing in the first place. Unemployment, poverty, environmental degradation, and educational inequities provide fertile recruitment ground for organizations offering alternative visions—however violent.
The Path Forward
For Nigeria, the resurgence of jihadist violence represents more than a security challenge—it’s an existential test of the state’s capacity to fulfill its most basic obligation: protecting its citizens.
As the country navigates this renewed threat, policymakers face difficult questions about resource allocation, security sector reform, and political decentralization. Regional cooperation remains essential, particularly in monitoring porous borders that allow militants to slip between countries with relative ease.
“This is a watershed moment,” reflects Governor Zulum. “Either we find the political will to address this comprehensively, or we risk losing entire regions to extremist control.”
As another day dawns in Nigeria’s troubled northeast, that warning hangs heavy in the air—as palpable as the smoke from yesterday’s explosions and as haunting as the memories of those who did not survive them.
Nnaji nwa Nnaji be Oruruo
**References:**
Reuters, International Crisis Group, Institute for Security Studies, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme.
