Boko Haram Archives - SocietyGazette.com

Bandit kingpin, Dogo Saleh, killed by gang in rescue attempt – Police 12th March 2025

A 21-year-old notorious bandit leader, Salisu Mohammed, popularly known as Dogo Saleh, met his end at the hands of his gang members after being arrested by the operatives of FCT Police Command.

Dogo Saleh identified as a hitman for criminal gangs operating in Rijana Forest, Kaduna State, had been responsible for multiple kidnappings and killings along the Kaduna-Lokoja-Enugu highway.

The FCT command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, issued a statement on Wednesday stating that police acting on intelligence conducted a covert operation to intercept Dogo Saleh at Gidan Abe Forest on March 3, while he was en route to Bwari Area Council, FCT.

Adeh stated that during the initial encounter, police operatives arrested Dogo Saleh, recovering an AK-49 rifle, two magazines, 60 rounds of live ammunition, and ₦3m suspected to be ransom proceeds.

She added that after gathering from the arrested suspect, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command launched a follow-up raid on March 4, 2025, at a known bandit hideout in Kwasau Forest, Kagarko LGA, Kaduna State, where his gang, led by one Abdu Musa, alias “Kanabaro,” had established a major hideout.

She noted that operatives were ambushed by armed bandits attempting to free their leader.

“The operatives swiftly engaged the criminals in a fierce gun battle, displaying superior tactical expertise and resilience. The bandits were ultimately overpowered and forced to flee into the forest with severe gunshot wounds. The suspect sustained fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by his own gang during the crossfire. He was rushed to Kubwa General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead,” Adeh said.

Stating the criminal activities linked to Dogo Saleh, Adeh said he was responsible for the abduction of a police officer’s family and the killing of two security personnel in a January 5, 2025, attack at Kujama Market, Kaduna.

“Other attacks linked to Dogo Saleh include: Kyauta Village, Chikun LGA (two years ago) – Two individuals, including a security officer, were kidnapped. Ransom collected: Millions of Naira The officer was later killed. Kike Village (one year ago) – A security officer’s wife was kidnapped. Ransom collected: millions of naira; Bagada Village (five months ago) – Three individuals kidnapped. Ransom collected: millions of naira; Village near Kaduna Refinery (one year ago) – Two men kidnapped. Ransom collected: millions of naira; Karuga Village, Chikun LGA (one year ago) – One person kidnapped. Ransom collected: millions of naira; Bagado Village, Chikun LGA (eleven months ago) – Ransom collected: millions of naira and Dan-Bushiya Village (two years ago) – Ransom collected: millions of naira, “ she stated.

Adeh also said his gang was also known for working with the Ansaru terrorist group to procure weapons.
She stated that Boka, the overall commander; Sharmi (surname unknown), Deputy; Dogo Saleh, assistant; and Gudan, an assistant who operated a sub-camp in the forest, had been eliminated in separate operations.

“The bandits’ hideout was successfully dislodged. One officer, the Inspector of the FCT Anti-Kidnapping Unit, sustained minor injuries and has since been treated and discharged. No other casualties were recorded,” she added.

Adeh said the FCT Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, praised the officers for their bravery and assured residents of ongoing operations to capture fleeing gang members.

He urged the public to report suspicious activities via police emergency lines.

Primate Ayodele Warns – ‘‘Boko Haram, ISWAP Will Fade Out But Another Tough Terrorist Group Is Coming’’

The Leader Of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Ayodele has released fresh warnings to the Nigerian government and the security operatives in the country.

In a statement released by his media office, the man of God revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari and the chief of army staff need to fortify the security of the nation because he foresees another terrorist group coming up soon.

Primate Ayodele revealed that the existing ones; Boko Haram and ISWAP will fade out but a tougher one will rise up in Africa and settle down in Nigeria with highly sophisticated weapons.

He made it known that God is ready to fight the battle against terrorism for Nigeria but the Army need to show that they are ready to win the fight by making some apprehensions.

‘’Nigeria will overcome terrorism if the government will take to instruction. Boko Haram is fading out as I said, I foresee that ISWAP will also go soon but I see another terrorist group in Africa coming to settle down in Nigeria. They will use highly sophisticated weapons to operate. If the military is ready, God will fight terrorism for Nigeria. Some politicians are involved in terrorism, they should be arrested and dealt with, and these are the people fueling terrorism’’.

Continuing, Primate Ayodele asked Nigerians to pray not to lose a top army general and advised the new Chief of Army Staff to be focused.

‘’ Let Nigeria pray so army will not lose a top general. The new chief of army staff should be focused so that He can succeed. He will battle enemies who are incharge of terrorists in Nigeria’’.

While speaking on corruption, Primate Ayodele noted that He foresees that the EFCC will go after influential politicians who are corrupt, stating that many of them will need to surrender their ambition and portfolios due to this development.

‘’EFCC will do a lot as from now on, many politicians should get prepared because some will go to jail, they will be mandated to surrender their ambition. Anyone who is involved in corruption should not contest, they will be disgraced’’.

On the Nigerian economy, Primate Ayodele advised the government to act before the economy goes worse than it is. He revealed that banks will be affected and that states government will not be able to meet up with demands If care isn’t taken.

‘’The government should work so that the economy will not be bad beyond this. The economy matter will begin to affect bank. The central bank of Nigeria doesn’t need to hide anything. Some state government will fall short and not be able to meet up with some things. This will also affect 2022 budget’’.

Furthermore, Primate Ayodele spoke on the political situation in Anambra state, urging the governor to work on security.

‘’The governor of Anambra state should work the security of the state towards the election and for the APC, the best candidate for them is George Moghalu’’

Communities in Niger State Negotiated and Pay N20m Security money to Boko Haram

Following the confirmation of the presence of Boko Haram in Niger State by the Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello, it has been gathered that about 65 communities in Niger State have resorted to negotiating and signing a peace deal with the insurgent to avoid future raids.

This development came few days after the terror group displaced more than 5,000 villagers from their homes in some local government areas in the state.

Though the Nigerian Army said it was unaware of Boko Haram’s incursion into Niger State, Wasiu Abiodun, the police spokesperson in the state, said he could not dispute Bello’s claim about the influx of the terrorist group into the state.

He said, “The executive governor is the chief security officer of the state. Are you expecting the police to dispute or go against the pronouncement of the executive governor?”

Our correspondent gathered that communities in Gurmana, Manta, Bassa and Kukoki distrists in the Shiroro area of the state had negotiated with the terrorists for a peace deal after reaching an agreement to pay certain amount of money.

The communities were said to have also purchased at least six motorcycles worth N500,000 for the terrorists.

Yusuf Sani, the co-convener of Concerned Shiroro Youth, said, “This is what most of the communities are resorting to. By my records now, communities that have signed the peace deal with the terrorists are more than 40.

“While some communities have already sealed up deals for ceasefire with the terrorists and are currently reaping the benefits, others are on the verge of finalising theirs.”

Sani also said the communities had paid “not less than N20 million to sign the peace deal with the terrorists.”

Geidam fully under terrorists’ control – Residents

Members of Boko Haram have taken over farmlands and farming activities in Geidam town, in the Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State.

The insurgents, who displaced majority residents of the town, were also said to have taken to preaching jihadist sermons to the few remaining people, mostly aged men and women, while also giving cash to them.

Gambo Abdullahi, an indigene of Geidam residing in Damaturu, said the town was still being occupied by the insurgents, while the Nigerian army troops were restricted to the western area.

He said, “The Boko Haram fighters are still in Geidam, they are in charge of the town.

“Since they sent everyone out of the community, they have been preaching radical sermons to the old men and women that stayed behind. After the preaching, they give N20,000 to convince them to join them in the Jihad movement.

“They have also taken over the farms of locals. They are harvesting the villagers’ produce and also weeding out grasses as if they will be in the town or a long time.”

Another local source in Damaturu, Mohammed Saleh, said some of the few people that stayed back in the displaced community had fled by foot to a nearby Kalgeri community.

He said, “Their is no vehicular movement to Geidam town as every vehicle stops at Kalgeri, my parents left Geidam for Damaturu yesterday. They trekked several kilometers to Kalgeri where they boarded a car to Damaturu.”

Meanwhile the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, during a visit to the operational theatre of the Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri on Thursday, said a cache of arms was stolen from the Nigerian Army base in Mainok by Boko Haram insurgents who attacked the base last Sunday.

He said the war would be won by the Nigerian Army because more arms would be supplied to end the counter insurgency fight.

“We have defeated the Boko Haram insurgents several times. If for one time they came and we lose some equipment, I can assure you we will overcome. The COAS assured.

The Chibok Girl who defied Boko Haram

Mass kidnappings of children in Nigeria have been making global headlines recently and this has been hard to watch for a young woman who was abducted in an infamous attack on a school in Chibok.

Naomi Adamu is quiet. As she talks she rarely makes eye contact, keeping her voice low and steady.

Upon meeting her, few would suspect she survived one of the most harrowing experiences a young woman could go through. But her timid demeanour belies an extraordinary strength of character.

Naomi, 24 at the time of the attack, was the oldest of more than 270 students from the Chibok Government Secondary School for Girls abducted by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in April 2014.

Her classmates referred to her as Maman Mu, Our Mother. Her education had been interrupted by health problems as a child.

She is now the main protagonist in a new book on the so-called “Chibok girls”.

The book explores the girls’ time in captivity in detail, and shows how the social media campaign that made them famous also made it harder to secure their release. Their fame had made them precious commodities, too valuable to let go.

During the three years she spent with Boko Haram, Naomi refused to bow down to pressure to marry one of their fighters, or convert to Islam.

Instead she and another classmate wrote secret diaries in textbooks they were given to write Islamic verses. She kept them hidden in a makeshift pouch tied to her leg.

“We decided that we should write down our stories,” she tells me, “so that if one of us got to escape, we could let people know what happened to us”.

She shows me one of the diaries, a lined text book with a fraying cover. In it is a letter to her dad, written just before Christmas of the year they were kidnapped.

“Dear my lovely dad, I miss you so much in this moment.

“Dad, I want to see you, I’m so worried about you and mum and the rest of the people at home.

“I wasn’t aware that this could happen to me, none of us who Boko Haram kidnapped realised that. By the Grace of God dad, I miss you so much.

“I want you to help me in prayer all the time so that I will defeat the devil each time he comes to torment me. So dad, I will like to stop here.

“I miss you so much. Goodbye have a nice day.

“Your lovely daughter, Naomi Adamu. Wish you a merry Christmas.”

Besides being separated from their loved ones and not knowing how they were doing or if they were even alive, the girls suffered many hardships.

They were moved frequently to avoid detection by the myriad armed forces looking for them, including the Nigerian military, foreign mercenaries and American drones.

Apart from a brief period in the town of Gwoza, captured by Boko Haram in late 2014, they spent most of their time in camps in the Sambisa forest, the group’s main hiding place.

“It was a very difficult time for us in Sambisa,” Naomi explains, “there was no food, no water. We even had to use soil to clean ourselves up when we were on our periods.”

Senior Boko Haram militants were constantly trying to get Naomi to marry one of their fighters. They believed seeing her get married would help convince the younger girls to follow her lead.

Every time she refused she would be beaten brutally and threatened with death.

When I ask how she knew she would not be killed for refusing to obey her captors, Naomi says she was not ready to get married.

Her insubordination led her and others to be introduced to the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau. But during the meeting he made a surprising revelation.

“Shekau told us that he didn’t abduct us to marry us off, but because he wanted to put pressure on the government to release his men who were in detention.”

The discovery strengthened her resolve and soon there were other rebellions.

When the militants kept her and some of the more stubborn students apart from their peers, depriving the weaker girls of food in order to force them to marry, Naomi and her friends smuggled food to them.

They sang hymns in front of their guards, quietly at first, then more boldly. Most of the kidnapped students were Christians. They wrote down their favourite Bible verses and prayers in their diaries.

She was eventually freed in 2017 along with 81 other girls, following years of painstaking negotiations between a small team of Nigerian volunteers and a Swiss diplomat.

At the time she thought Boko Haram was on its last legs.

“I didn’t think Boko Haram would still be active today because when we left there, they were splitting into two groups, so we thought they were over. Some of them were in Sambisa, whilst some were Kangaroua.”

But the social media campaign to free the girls, led by celebrities including the US first lady at the time, Michelle Obama, had propelled them to fame and shown Boko Haram how valuable school children were as captives.

– Culled from BBC News

Army Troops Neutralise Boko Haram Terrorists In Marte, Destroy Gun Trucks

Troops of Operation TURA TAKAIBANGO in conjunction with the Air Task Force Operation LAFIYA DOLE have effectively destroyed 7 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists’ gun trucks and decimated several unconfirmed number of the terrorists when they attempted to attack their location at the outskirts of Marte in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.

According to a signed statement by Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko, Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters and made available to NAOSRE, the gallant troops, based on reliable information about the attack, had positioned themselves in an ambush site where they tactically withdrew to, and awaited the arrival of the terrorists before they opened fire which led to fierce battle that resulted in the successes recorded as indicated above.

The troops are still engaged in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists for further exploitation. Further details of interest to members of the public will be communicated later.

Zabarmari Murder: HURIWA CALLS FOR MORE FUNDING FOR INSURGENCY OPERATIONS

Following the ugly murder of about 43 farmers in Zabarmari, Borno yesterday, A frontline Civil Rights Advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has outrighty condemned the act, while blaming the government for not funding the Nigerian army enough to battle insecurity in Nigeria.

The organization made it known that the Nigerian Army is burdened with policing duties, which isn’t supposed to be so, hence, hindering the army from carrying out its primary responsibility of protecting citizens against the enemies of the state.

“HURIWA is shocked at the bloodcuddling bloodletting that took place in the past 24 hours in the North East of Nigeria and especially the day light genocide of rural fish farmers by persons suspected to be fighter of the Boko haram terrorists. It is a sad day to wake up with the heartrending story of the gruesome decapitation of some Nigerians only because they went in search of foods for their families. The story that some 40 people reported ‘slaughtered’ in attack on labourers working in rice fields in Borno state in the country’s northeast, is a monumental disaster which calls for a declaration of national mourning for a day by President Muhammadu Buhari.

To read that the assailants on Saturday tied up the agricultural workers and slit their throats in the village of Koshobe, near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, is the most saddening piece of news since this year.

We in the organised civil society community in Nigeria completely locates the blame on the doorsteps of President Muhammadu Buhari who is actually not providing the needed political leadership to win the war on terror which has lasted far longer than necessary. The government is not funding the military as much as it should.

The government is not ready even to officially declare Boko haram terrorists as a terror network so their finances are traced but the Central bank of Nigeria is misused to witchunt peaceful protesters and the banking accounts of suspected sponsors of the recent peaceful protests against police brutality and the violent killings of Nigerian Citizens were frozen by CBN but the Central bank of Nigeria under the current administration has increasingly failed to trace the funding channels of Boko haram terrorists and again the justice sector is not willing to prosecute the terrorists because the officials plan to milk Nigeria dry by presenting outrageous bills as budget for the prosecution of terrorists just about the same time that government continuously releases these terrorists arrested back into the society under the pretensions that they are to be deradicalised and reintegrated. The government by releasing terrorists is providing recruitment fertile ground for Boko haram terrorists.

The government also fails to fund the war efforts”.

The Rights group stated that Nigerians should not condemn the military for not doing enough because they are handicapped, while calling on the international community to come to the rescue of Nigeria by providing logistical and technical support for the military.