Nigeria: Deadly Boko Haram ambush in northeast July 10

Event

A Boko Haram ambush on a military convoy late on Monday, July 10, in the village of Hambagda (northeast, near the Cameroon border) resulted in the deaths of three security officers. Nigerian soldiers in the convoy returned fire, killing two of the attackers while the rest fled. News of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of regional communication towers in previous Boko Haram attacks.

Context

Boko Haram seized nearby Gwoza in July 2014, declaring it the headquarters of their caliphate. Although it was subsequently retaken by Nigerian troops in March 2015, Boko Haram militants continue to raid nearby villages from their hideouts along the Cameroonian border. The northeastern region of Nigeria is highly susceptible to attacks by Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in March 2015 and formally adopted the name of Islamic State in West Africa. At least 20,000 have been killed and 2.6 million displaced since Boko Haram began its rebellion in 2009.

Public venues (markets, places of worship, schools, bars, sports matches, etc.) as well as military and government buildings are frequently targeted by armed assaults, suicide bombings (targeted or untargeted), and kidnappings (regularly followed by assassination and primarily targeting foreign nationals).

Advice

The security environment in Nigeria is complex and particularly poor in the northeast and extreme south of the country due to the presence of armed groups, high crime rates, and the risk of kidnapping. Some Western governments consequently advise against travel to certain areas of the northeast (e.g. states of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Jigawa as well as parts of Kano and Adamawa states) and the southern Niger Delta region (e.g. states of Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers). Professional security advice and support should be sought prior to travel to these areas.