Terrorist violence drives mass exodus from Marte, Nigeria

A recent upsurge in terrorist attacks in northeastern Nigeria has forced over 20,000 residents out of Marte, a conflict-ravaged town in Borno state. Assailants are now using drones for attacks and surveillance–a tactical shift that raises fears of more widespread civilian devastation.

According to Reuters, the exodus followed an attack by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on a military installation in Marte on May 12. Militants overran the town temporarily, killing five soldiers while others were declared missing.

This compelled over 20,000 Nigerians to flee from Marte to Dikwa, a key humanitarian hub in Borno state.

The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, visited Marte in the aftermath of the attacks. He lamented that “Marte was resettled about four years ago, but unfortunately, over the last three days, it was ransacked and was displaced again.”

The attack came as part of a wider surge in violence in the northeast. Within 24 hours, insurgents launched coordinated attacks on four military bases across Borno State, including locations in Dikwa, Rann, and Gajiram. These attacks led to additional casualties and the theft of military vehicles.

On May 15, two villages in Baga in Borno State were attacked, allegedly by a faction of Boko Haram. 57 people were killed and over 70 were reported missing, as villagers were accused of being informants for the rival ISWAP.

According to the locals, several bodies were found on May 17 with their throats slit.

Zulum is also expected to visit Kalawa Balge district, where militants killed 23 farmers on May 19. 

Boko Haram and its rival splinter, ISWAP, have been battling Nigerian forces for years in the northeast and often use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to target civilians and security forces. Both groups have fought bitterly for supremacy since they split in 2016.

The government has asserted that the groups are largely defeated, despite the persisting attacks. However, in Borno state, the heartland of the insurgency for over 15 years, Zulum has warned that insurgents are making gains, with little pushback from the military.

With both groups’ adoption of aerial technology and a reported lull in tensions between the two, analysts have raised major fears of a Jihadist comeback in the region.

“Both groups have become a bit bolder and showed they have some sophisticated technology,” said James Barnett, a Hudson Institute research fellow who conducts fieldwork on insecurity in Nigeria.

Vincent Foucher, a research fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research who has interviewed former fighters, said that Islamic State advisers were sent to help ISWAP fighters in the past. The group’s sophisticated weaponry could signal deeper ties between the two.

“They can improve the tactics, and we have seen the use of drones and explosives, and large-scale attacks. This could be taken as the impact of the advice from the Islamic State.”

Reuters/ AP/ Maghrebi