By Segun Onibiyo
New Marte, Borno State – “It began in the dead of night. At exactly 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday, May 27, the silence around the Nigerian Army’s 50 Task Force Battalion base in New Marte shattered with the roar of gunfire. Gun trucks tore through the dark, and the rattling of machine guns echoed from all sides as dozens of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters attacked the garrison town near the shores of Lake Chad. They came in waves,” said Corporal Adamu Musa, who was stationed at the edge of the base when the first shots were fired narrate the experience to TruthNigeria reporter via telephone, “It felt like the sky itself was falling. I saw flashes from RPGs and bullets flying like rain. We had no choice but to fight with everything we had.”
Musa is one of several Nigerian soldiers who spoke to TruthNigeria following the overnight assault. The military, too, confirmed the intensity of the encounter.
“The insurgents attempted a multi-directional assault on our base,” Lt. Col. Olumide Ayo-Vaughan, Director of Army Public Relations, told TruthNigeria reporter when contacted via phone on May 29. “However, our troops responded with discipline and precision, supported by air components of Operation ‘Hadin Kai’. The base was never in danger of being overrun.”
The military disclosed in a statement released Friday and signed by Ajemasu Yake Jingina, Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 7 Division Nigerian Army that the terrorists belonging to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram and ISWAP launched the attack at approximately 10:20 p.m. on May 22.
According to Ajemasu Yake Jingina, more than two dozen insurgents were “neutralized,” though he added that clearance operations were still underway. Two Nigerian soldiers were killed in the firefight. A gun truck and one Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle sustained damage, but he insisted that “morale remains high and the defense line in New Marte is holding firm.”
Reinforcements and Air Power
Military sources confirmed that reinforcements from the 24 Task Force Brigade and 134 Special Forces Battalion were dispatched within minutes of the attack’s start. By 2:00 a.m., Nigerian Air Force surveillance drones were airborne, directing jets that bombarded ISWAP positions as insurgents attempted to retreat. A military officer familiar with the operation said real-time footage showed militants fleeing into the marshlands along the Lake Chad border, with airstrikes trailing them.
A Town Caught in Crossfire
New Marte lies roughly 93 kilometers northeast of Maiduguri in Borno State. Once an agricultural hub, the town has become a frontline outpost in Nigeria’s war against jihadism. Its location near the porous borders of Chad and Cameroon makes it a strategic prize for ISWAP, which previously seized it in February 2021. The military retook it weeks later, but the town has remained a contested zone.
Speaking to TruthNigeria, Borno-based journalist Halima Gana said, “Every time the government tells displaced residents to return, an attack like this reminds them it’s not yet safe. There’s a deep sense of abandonment in these communities.”
Security Experts Weigh In
Dr. Abdullahi Musa, a counterterrorism analyst at the University of Maiduguri, warned when responding to questions from TruthNigeria reporter, that the frequency of ISWAP’s attacks in the area points to a larger strategy.
“ISWAP is not just probing military defenses,” Musa said in an interview. “They’re asserting their relevance to locals, to rival factions, and to international jihadist networks. New Marte gives them access to cross-border resources and territory. That’s why they keep coming back.”
According to the International Crisis Group, control of locations such as New Marte has symbolic and logistical significance in the fight between ISWAP and Boko Haram, as both groups attempt to dominate smuggling routes and local populations.
“[ISWAP] is using local knowledge, human terrain, and mobility to stretch the Nigerian military,” he said. “It’s why integrated response combining air, ground, and intelligence assets is the only viable approach, according to retired Nigerian Army Col. Samuel Zubair when responding to questions from TruthNigeria reporter that ISWAP’s tactics reflect a “mobile and modular force” that no longer relies on fixed bases.”
The Toll and the Stakes
More than 1,300 people were killed in insurgency-related violence in Borno State alone in 2024, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria Security Tracker. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that more than 2.3 million people remain displaced in the northeast.
Aid worker Fatima Bukar, speaking to TruthNigeria from a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Monguno, said recent attacks have dampened hopes of return. “Many of the IDPs were preparing to go back to New Marte. Now they’re scared again. The violence is like a tide it keeps coming back.”
Mohammed Babagana, a displaced resident of Marte now living in Monguno, echoed this fear, “They say Marte is safe, but the sound of guns says otherwise,” he told TruthNigeria by phone. “We want to go home, but not just to be killed again.”
Military Under Strain
The Nigerian Army, one of Africa’s largest, with approximately 160,000 active personnel, is stretched across multiple fronts from ISWAP and Boko Haram in the northeast to escalating Fulani militia attacks in central Nigeria. A series of recent attacks in Kebbi State also has raised alarm about a new Islamist front in the northwest.
According to military sources and open-source estimates, ISWAP and Boko Haram still field between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters combined. The insurgents’ use of drones, GPS technology, and encrypted communication has also complicated counterinsurgency operations.
Major General Waidi Shuaib, Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, acknowledged the challenge. “We are reinforcing positions not just in Marte but across the entire Lake Chad axis. The aim is to anticipate, not just respond,” he told TruthNigeria through the Army’s media unit. “The enemy is evolving, but so are we.”
Looking Ahead
Analysts warn that military gains in the region could be reversed if not supported by sustained development and local intelligence. “What happens in Marte is a microcosm of the entire war,” said Dr. Musa. “Without investment in human security jobs, schools, and local governance we’ll be here again in six months, reporting another attack.”
For now, the military is releasing photos and drone footage from the latest operation to reinforce public confidence. But for displaced civilians such as Babagana, images are not enough. “We’ve seen pictures before,” he said. “We need peace we can feel.”
Segun Onibiyo reports on terrorism and conflict for TruthNigeria.
