Nigerian Government Claims to Have Degraded Extremists Despite Recent Bombings

In Summary

• Three female suicide bombers attacked Gwoza, Nigeria, for the first time since 2020.
• The attacks targeted a wedding, a funeral, and a hospital, killing at least 32 people.
• Boko Haram is blamed for the attacks, though no group has claimed responsibility.
• Nigerian officials described the bombings as acts of desperation, not a setback.

ABUJA, NIGERIA- For the first time since 2020, three female suicide bombers attacked the Nigerian border town of Gwoza, where Boko Haram extremists declared a short-lived caliphate 10 years ago. This incident signals that the world’s longest war on militancy is still ongoing.

The attacks occurred on June 30, two days after officials touted success in their war against extremists. Nigeria’s military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, stated, “We have greatly degraded the terrorists.”

The coordinated suicide bombings began with the first targeting a well-attended wedding, the second detonated at the victims’ funeral, and the third at a hospital attending to the injured. At least 32 people were killed, including nine family members and friends of Mohammed Kehaya, a resident of Borno state.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but blame quickly fell on Boko Haram. Since 2009, Boko Haram has launched an insurgency to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in northeastern Nigeria. The group has splintered into different factions, together responsible for the deaths of at least 35,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million.

Despite the attacks, Nigerian authorities maintained that they were not a “setback.” Nigeria’s Defense Chief, Gen. Chris Musa, described the bombings as a sign of desperation by the militants and a one-off event. “Some individuals would do everything possible for us not to succeed,” he said.

Security analysts and locals, however, expressed concerns that the attacks indicated significant planning and coordination, highlighting ongoing dangers in Borno, where some villages lack security presence. Vincent Foucher, consulting senior analyst for West Africa at the International Crisis Group, suggested that the extremists' goal might be to distort the narrative that the security situation has normalized. “It’s a way to show the war goes on,” Foucher said.

The bombings sent shock waves across families in Borno, causing fear and uncertainty. Yusuf Ibn Tom, a public school teacher in Maiduguri, reported that parents were concerned about their children's safety.

At the height of the insurgency in 2014, Boko Haram was considered the world’s deadliest terrorist group, killing at least 6,000 people that year alone. Since then, the military has pushed them to the fringes of the Lake Chad axis, and the 2021 death of the group’s founding leader, Abubakar Shekau, weakened the group. Clashes between Shekau’s faction and the one linked to the Islamic State group have further reduced their power.

However, the operational prowess of the extremists remains unchanged. Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that attacks like this are often part of a wider series and could indicate the insurgency's strength and the Nigerian military’s ability to respond.