By Clarion News Desk
November 19, 2025 – Abuja
As Nigeria grapples with a relentless barrage of violence, the northeast’s fight against insurgency has claimed a high-profile victim: Brigadier General M. Uba, commander of the 25 Task Force Brigade, was ambushed, captured, and executed by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants in Borno State. Graphic videos of the execution have flooded online platforms, exposing stark vulnerabilities in military operations and sparking widespread outrage. In the northwest, bandits abducted 64 villagers—including women and children—in Zamfara State, while escalating herder-farmer clashes in Benue and Plateau states have left multiple dead, with communities holding somber burials amid fears of further reprisals. Northern elders have amplified calls for intensified military action against banditry, as the Senate condemns the surge in attacks, demanding the recruitment of 100,000 additional troops and a probe into the failures of the $30 million Safe School Initiative.
Borno Ambush: ISWAP’s Execution of Brigadier General Uba Exposes Military Gaps
The horror unfolded on November 15, 2025, along the volatile Damboa-Biu road near Wajiroko village in the Azir Multe axis of Damboa Local Government Area, Borno State—a hotspot bordering the infamous Sambisa Forest, long a stronghold for jihadist groups. Brigadier General M. Uba, a seasoned officer in his mid-50s leading the 25 Task Force Brigade, was spearheading a joint convoy of Nigerian Army troops and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) operatives returning from a routine patrol to secure local communities. The mission followed a successful air-ground offensive against ISWAP positions earlier that day, aimed at disrupting terrorist supply lines and safe houses.
Eyewitness accounts and security sources describe a meticulously planned ambush: As the convoy—comprising armored vehicles, motorcycles, and personnel transporting military equipment—traversed the booby-trapped route around 5 p.m., ISWAP fighters emerged from concealed positions in the dense bush, unleashing a barrage of gunfire from AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy machine guns. The initial exchange lasted over an hour, with troops returning fire and calling in Nigerian Air Force support, which eventually forced the attackers to scatter. In the chaos, two soldiers and two CJTF members were killed outright, their bodies recovered amid charred vehicles and seized equipment, including 17 military motorcycles. General Uba, reportedly wounded in the leg, ordered a tactical withdrawal to evade encirclement, but in the disarray, he became separated from his unit.
Initial reports suggested Uba had escaped unscathed, with the Nigerian Army’s Director of Defence Media Operations, Lieutenant Colonel Appolonia Anele, issuing a statement on November 16 denying abduction rumors as “fake news.” She claimed the general had “battled the insurgents’ ambush with superior firepower,” leading his men back to base at the Damboa military outpost. To counter circulating misinformation, Uba even recorded a brief video from his phone, assuring superiors he was “okay” and en route, which was shared internally and later leaked online. Tragically, this reassurance proved fatal: ISWAP operatives, monitoring social media and intercepting the general’s live location shared via his device, tracked and recaptured him within hours, along with two other soldiers.
By November 17, ISWAP released a chilling statement via its Al Amaq propaganda channel, claiming responsibility for the ambush and announcing Uba’s execution following interrogation. A grainy photograph showed the bound general in an undisclosed forest hideout, his uniform torn and face bruised. On November 18, the group escalated the propaganda with a graphic video circulating on X and Telegram channels, depicting Uba—hands tied behind his back—being marched at gunpoint through scrubland before a masked fighter delivers a fatal shot at close range. The footage, verified by multiple outlets including Sahara Reporters and The Cable, also showed the two captured soldiers suffering similar fates, their pleas for mercy drowned out by gunfire. A post from @ideatelevision on X captured the video’s raw horror, garnering thousands of views and comments decrying the “heartbreaking” loss of a “brave commander.”
The execution marks a rare high-level kill for ISWAP, a Boko Haram splinter group controlling swathes of Borno’s rural terrain, and has ignited accusations of operational lapses. Security analysts point to the militants’ sophisticated tracking—possibly aided by hacked signals or insider leaks—as evidence of intelligence failures. Rescue efforts, led by Theatre Commander Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, involved elite troops storming the Damboa base, but were called off early on November 17 amid fears of further traps; one wounded soldier was freed, but the others perished. Brigadier General Mustapha was swiftly appointed interim commander of the 26 Task Force Brigade. President Bola Tinubu, in a November 18 address, mourned Uba as a “fallen hero” and ordered an internal probe, while Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa vowed “decisive retaliation.” Families in Uba’s hometown of Kaduna held a quiet vigil, with his widow telling reporters, “He died serving Nigeria—now ensure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
This incident underscores broader military strains: Borno alone has seen over 200 clashes this year, with ISWAP blending insurgency with banditry for funding. The video’s virality—shared amid denials—has eroded public trust, with users on X labeling it a “dark side of social media in warfare.”
Zamfara Mass Abduction: 64 Villagers Seized in Highway Terror
Compounding the northeast’s woes, northwest insecurity surged on November 15 in Fegin Baza village, Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State—a banditry epicenter where forested routes serve as smuggling corridors for arms and rustled cattle. Over 30 armed bandits, mounted on motorcycles and wielding AK-47s, launched a daylight assault around 10 a.m., first targeting the village proper but repelled by vigilant locals who had received intelligence warnings the night before.
Frustrated, the attackers pivoted to the nearby Gusau-Tsafe highway, a notorious kidnapping corridor, where they flagged down vehicles and herded passengers into the bush at gunpoint. Among the 64 abducted—confirmed by community leaders and police—were at least 20 women and children, including a nursing mother clutching her infant and schoolgirls returning from a nearby market. Three villagers were killed in the initial shootout: a vigilante shot while mounting a defense, a farmer caught in crossfire, and a motorist whose vehicle was riddled with bullets. Witnesses described scenes of pandemonium, with screams echoing as bandits looted phones, cash, and goods before vanishing into the Rukudawa Forest.
Zamfara Police spokesperson Muhammad Shehu Dalijan confirmed the toll in a November 16 statement, noting no ransom demands yet but ongoing joint patrols with the military under Operation Harbin Kunama. Governor Dauda Lawal visited the site on November 17, consoling families and vowing “no stone unturned,” while crediting vigilantes for limiting casualties. This raid fits a pattern: Zamfara has recorded over 500 abductions this year, often tied to illegal gold mining funding. Displaced residents, numbering thousands, now huddle in makeshift camps, with one father telling Daily Trust, “They took my wife and son for what? We have nothing but our lives.”
Benue and Plateau Clashes: Herder-Farmer Violence Claims Lives, Burials Underway
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, longstanding herder-farmer tensions boiled over in Benue and Plateau states, claiming at least 10 lives in the past week alone and displacing hundreds. In Benue’s Gwer West and Ohimini areas, Fulani herders—seeking grazing routes amid dry season shortages—clashed with Tiv farmers over disputed farmlands on November 16-17. Armed with machetes and dane guns, assailants raided Anwule and Tyolaha communities, killing five farmers in their fields: two on Monday via ambush, three more Tuesday in reprisals. Local leader Honorable Adole Gabriel reported to TruthNigeria that attackers emerged from border forests, targeting Christian farming villages and forcing survivors into IDP camps in Otukpo.
In Plateau’s Bokkos Local Government Area, bordering Benue, similar skirmishes on November 17 left five dead, including two children caught in the crossfire during a cattle incursion onto yam plots. Operation Safe Haven troops intervened, rescuing five abducted farmers but recovering two bodies amid burned huts. Burials commenced November 18 in mass graves, with priests leading hymns for the slain as widows wailed. Benue Governor Hyacinth Alia, himself a priest wounded in a prior attack, condemned the “genocidal invasion,” echoing calls for federal disarmament of militias. Over 1,000 have died in such clashes since 2023, per security databases, exacerbating food shortages in the “Food Basket of the Nation.”
Northern Elders Demand Escalated Military Push; Senate’s Urgent Call
Amid the carnage, the Northern Elders Progressive Group on November 18 urged “sustained military operations” as the “most effective” antidote to banditry, praising former Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle’s recent defense ministry visit for bolstering logistics. Spokesperson Abubakar Jiddere called for more equipment and troop morale boosts, warning that unchecked violence stifles investment.
The Senate, convening urgently on November 18, echoed this fury in a motion by Senator Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi North), condemning the attacks as a “slap on the nation.” Lawmakers, led by Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North), resolved to press President Tinubu for 100,000 new recruits to match Nigeria’s 230 million population against its overstretched 177,000 security personnel. Senate President Godswill Akpabio endorsed a probe into the Safe School Initiative’s $30 million (from budgets and donors since 2015), questioning why abductions persist despite the policy. An ad hoc committee, including Finance members, was formed to audit expenditures, with Oshiomhole decrying, “Our security demands strategic expansion—technology and manpower now.”
A Fractured Nation: Pathways to Peace?
These assaults—ISWAP’s bold strike, Zamfara’s highway horror, Middle Belt bloodletting—signal a hybrid threat where jihadists, bandits, and ethnic militias exploit ungoverned spaces. No silver bullet exists, but experts urge blending kinetics with diplomacy, community policing, and economic palliatives like grazing reserves. As vigils flicker in Borno, Zamfara, and Benue, the plea rings clear: Nigeria’s guardians must rise, or the shadows lengthen.
Clarion News will track rescue operations, probes, and responses. Stay informed.
Nigeria’s Security Nightmare Deepens: Top Army Officer Executed by ISWAP, Mass Abductions in Zamfara, Deadly Clashes in Benue and Plateau
