Tarmuwa massacre

Last updated
Tarmuwa massacre
Part of the Boko Haram insurgency
Location Mafa, Tarmuwa, Yobe State, Nigeria
DateSeptember 3, 2024
TargetVillagers, worshippers and farmers
Attack type
 Mass shootings  · massacre  · looting  · arson
Weapons
Deaths130
Injured30+
Perpetrators Boko Haram or Islamic State [1]
No. of participants
50+
MotiveRevenge for villagers telling security operatives about their activities

On September 3, 2024, over 50 armed Boko Haram or Islamic State militants attacked the district of Tarmuwa in Yobe State, Nigeria, killing 130 villagers.

Contents

Background

The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009, when the group started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria.

ISWAP claimed that the men of the village were "supporting and coordinating" with the Nigerian army and therefore labeled them as "apostates", heading to the village to commit this massacre.

Attack

The attack began when over 50 extremists on motorcycles carried out attacks in the Nigerian local government area of Tarmuwa. The extremists looted and set shops, houses and schools ablaze, carried out mass shootings at markets and houses, shot worshippers and farmers. 130 villagers villagers were killed in the attack. [2] The militants put up posters during the massacre threatening to do the same to other villages who commit "treachery" [ citation needed ]. [3] [4]

Responses

The Nigerian police blamed the attack on Boko Haram.

Community leader Zanna Umar confirmed that at least 102 villagers were killed, and stated "We are still working to search for more because many people are still missing"

Local chief Buba Adamu stated “This is the first time our community has faced such a devastating attack,” and “We never imagined something like this could happen here.”

President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack as an "atrocious and cowardly act of terror". [5]

Two mass burials were held a day after the attack on September 4. 87 people were buried in the village of Babbangida, while 40 others were buried in Mafa. [6]

Responsibility

On September 12, the Islamic State, via its weekly Al-Naba newsletter, claimed responsibility for the massacre, stating that their fighters had separated the men from the women and children, before executing 127 of them (the men), while at least 30 others were wounded.

The group continued by adding that they left behind a letter at the scene of the massacre accusing the villagers of collaborating with the Nigerian military against the jihadists. The group also accused the villagers of being responsible for the deaths of 9 IS fighters in recent months, as well as requesting for the Nigerian military to set up a military base in the town. IS also alleged that nearby villages had stopped interacting with these accused villagers due to their alleged "collaboration" with the Nigerian military, and that IS fighters had warned them many times to stop assisting the military.

The newsletter also featured two graphic images showing Islamic State members standing over a large pile of dead men. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram</span> Central-West African jihadist terrorist organization

Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist terrorist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.

Marte is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, on the western coast of Lake Chad. Its headquarters are in the town of Marte

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwoza</span> LGA and town in Borno State, Nigeria

Gwoza is a local government area of Borno State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gwoza, a border town "about 135 kilometres South-East of Maiduguri." The postal code of the area is 610.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram insurgency</span> Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abubakar Shekau</span> Nigerian militant and former leader of Boko Haram

Abu Mohammed Abubakar al-Sheikawi was a Nigerian militant who was the leader of Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, from 2009 to 2021. He served as deputy leader to the group's founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf's execution in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ansaru</span> Islamist militant organization in Nigeria

The Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa, better known as Ansaru and less commonly called al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel, is an Islamic fundamentalist Jihadist militant organisation originally based in the northeast of Nigeria. Originally a faction of Boko Haram, the group announced in 2012 that it had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and was independent. Despite this, Ansaru and other Boko Haram factions continued to work closely together until the former increasingly declined and stopped its insurgent activities in 2013. The group was revived in 2020, and has been involved in the Nigerian bandit conflict

Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid-2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The Konduga massacre took place in Konduga, Borno State, Nigeria on 11 February 2014. The massacre was conducted by Boko Haram Islamists against Christian villagers. At least 62 people were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwoza massacre</span>

The Gwoza massacre was a terrorist event that occurred on 2 June, 2014 in the Gwoza local government district, Borno State near the Nigerian-Camerounian border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2014 Kaduna and Abuja attacks</span>

Between 23 and 25 June 2014, a series of attacks occurred in central Nigeria. On 23–24 June, gunmen attacked a number of villages in Kaduna State, killing around 150 people. The attack was blamed on Fulani tribesmen. On 25 June 2014, a bomb exploded at the Emab Plaza in the national capital of Abuja, killing at least 21 people. In response to the bombing, the Nigerian military raided two militants camps on 26 June, killing more than 100 people.

The following lists events from 2014 in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – West Africa Province</span> Militant group and branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), officially Wilāyat Garb Ifrīqīyā, meaning "West African Province", is a militant group and administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. ISWAP is primarily active in the Chad Basin, and fights an extensive insurgency against the states of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Turkey. It is an offshoot of Boko Haram with which it has a violent rivalry; Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in battle with ISWAP in 2021. Until March 2022, ISWAP acted as an umbrella organization for all IS factions in West Africa including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), although the actual ties between ISWAP and IS-GS were limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Basin campaign (2018–2020)</span> Series of battles and offensives in the Chad Basin

The Chad Basin campaign of 2018–2020 was a series of battles and offensives in the southern Chad Basin, particularly northeastern Nigeria, which took place amid the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency. The Chad Basin witnessed an upsurge of insurgent activity from early November 2018, as rebels belonging to the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram launched offensives and several raids to regain military strength and seize territory in a renewed attempt to establish an Islamic state in the region. These attacks, especially those by ISWAP, met with considerable success and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The member states of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), namely Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon responded to the increased insurgent activity with counter-offensives. These operations repulsed the rebels in many areas but failed to fully contain the insurgency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jihadist insurgency in Niger</span> Civil conflict in Niger

Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainok attack</span> Boko Haram attack in Northeast Nigeria

On 25 April 2021, a large group of ISWAP insurgents killed 33 soldiers in Mainok, a town 36 miles west of Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria.

In May 2021, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) launched an invasion of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, Nigeria, which was serving as the main base of Boko Haram, a rival jihadist rebel group. Following heavy fighting, ISWAP overran the Boko Haram troops, cornering their leader Abubakar Shekau. The two sides entered negotiations about Boko Haram's surrender during which Shekau committed suicide, possibly detonating himself with a suicide vest. Shekau's death was regarded as a major event by outside observers, as he had been one of the main driving forces in the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria and neighboring countries since 2009.

On April 23, 2021, militants from the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the town of Geidam, in Yobe State, Nigeria, killing several civilians and sparking a battle with Nigerian armed forces.

In late October 2023, two terrorist attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram occurred in Yobe State, Nigeria a day apart, killing at least 37 people and injuring 7.

Between December 30, 2022 and January 7, 2023, Boko Haram launched a series of raids against Islamic State – West Africa Province on various islands on Lake Chad, with major battles occurring on Toumbun Allura Karnawa and Toumbun Gini.

On June 13, 2020, the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP) launched five coordinated attacks on different locations across Borno State, Nigeria. Four of the attacks took place in Monguno and one took place in the village of Goni Usmanti in Nganzai LGA, and over sixty people were killed in the attacks.

References

  1. ↑ content "With Disturbing Photos of Corpse Pile, IS Reveals Massacre of Nearly 130 Nigerian Civilians in "Belligerent Village"". SITE. 12 September 2024.
  2. ↑ Shettima Lawan Monguno (September 4, 2024). "Mass burial for victims of Mafa massacre". Radio Ndarson Internationale. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Many feared killed, houses razed in Yobe terror attack". The Punch. September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Boko Haram militants on motorcycles attacked a Nigerian village, killing over 100, residents say". Associated Press. September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Boko Haram militants on motorcycles attacked a Nigerian village, killing over 100, residents say". Yahoo News. September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Massacre: 127 Killed By ISWAP Terrorists in Mafa, Yobe State Buried". Global Upfront. September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  7. ↑ content "With Disturbing Photos of Corpse Pile, IS Reveals Massacre of Nearly 130 Nigerian Civilians in "Belligerent Village"". SITE Intelligence Group . 12 September 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.