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Terrorists and soldiers gave Miss Leah Sharibu a bittersweet birthday gift last week. The young lady was 23 years old on Thursday, May 14, 2026. She was 14 in February 2018 when Boko Haram terrorists abducted her together with 109 other schoolgirls from Government Science Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe State. But she was not released when others regained their freedom thereafter because she refused to denounce her Christian faith.
In the early hours of Friday, May 15, Sharibu received a toxic birthday gift – devastating terror attacks in Borno and Oyo states, reminiscent of the Dapchi incident. In Oyo, some terrorists launched coordinated attacks on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area (LGA): Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esinele, and L.A. Primary School, Ahoro-Esinele. Both schools operate on the same premises.
They abducted a school vice-principal, Mrs. Alamu Folawe, some members of staff of the affected schools and no fewer than 45 pupils. A teacher in one of the schools sustained gunshot wounds. Two people: an assistant headmaster known as Mr. Joel Adesiyan, and a motorcycle rider were reportedly killed. The okada rider reportedly resisted attempts by the terrorists to take away his bike. The assailants also made away with the Toyota Corolla car belonging to the abducted vice-principal and later set it ablaze.
The Oyo State Government ordered closure of schools in the affected areas to ensure safety of both the residents and the students. The Oyo State Police Command said it had begun intensive manhunt for the perpetrators and rescue operation.
In Borno, Boko Haram terrorists invaded Mussa Central Primary School and Government Secondary School, Mussa, in Askira-Uba LGA. They abducted over 40 pupils, mostly nursery school children between two and five years old. It was in this same Askira-Uba that ISWAP terrorists ambushed and killed the commander of the 28 Task Force Brigade in Chibok, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu, and some soldiers in November 2021.
Abduction of schoolchildren has become routine in Nigeria. Last year, over 300 children and 12 teachers were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic school, Papiri, in Niger State. About 25 schoolgirls were similarly abducted at Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State. This happened less than 45 minutes after the sudden withdrawal of soldiers from the school.
Chibok in Borno State was the first major victim of the vicious attack. Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped some 276 schoolgirls and took them into Sambisa Forest in April 2014. It took over one year before some of them were released. Some are still in captivity. Since this incident, rather than abate, the abduction of our children has escalated. Over 1,500 students have been kidnapped.
This is amid the recent warning by the United States that Islamic State (ISIS) poses a formidable threat to West Africa. According to a 2026 counterterrorism strategy document by the US, following the collapse of ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the surviving remnants of ISIS and affiliated jihadist groups have relocated to Africa and Central Asia where they exploit ungoverned spaces. Such areas which have witnessed a resurgence of terrorist activities include West Africa, the Sahel region, the Lake Chad Basin, Mozambique, Sudan, Somalia and some other parts of Africa.
We don’t even need the US to tell us that the threat is real and formidable. Since 2009, ISIS provinces such as Boko Haram, and Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) as well as sundry terror groups have been shedding innocent blood in Nigeria. Last April, IS terrorists claimed responsibility for the killing of no fewer than 29 people at a football pitch in Adamawa State. Over the years, more than 100,000 lives have been lost in Nigeria. Over two million people have been displaced. Many others have been seriously wounded.
Sadly, the barbarism is fast expanding into southern Nigeria, especially the South-West. It is no longer the exclusive preserve of the North. In 2022, terrorists attacked a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State. Kidnapping incidents and attacks on commercial buses are often reported on Sagamu-Ore-Benin Expressway and across such states as Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun. On January 6, 2026, bandits attacked the National Park Service office in Oloka, Oriire LGA of Oyo State. They killed five forest guards. Major causative factors include porous interstate borders and poorly governed forest corridors.
Elsewhere in West Africa, it is the same story. Late last month, the al-Qaida-linked militant Islamist group, Jama’at Nusrat Al Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), and a Tuareg separatist movement, the Front de libération de l’Azawad, almost took over government in Mali. Their intensified coordinated attacks on military and civilian targets led to the disappearance of President Assimi Goïta for several days and the killing of about 23 people, including the Defence Minister, Sadio Camara.
This JNIM has some presence in Nigeria as well. In an attack in October 2025, they killed a Nigerian soldier in Kwara State. Terrorists have also recently killed Nigerian senior military officers, including Brigadier General Musa Uba and Brigadier General Oseni Braimah.
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The disturbing aspect of this insurgency is that the government of the day appears to be chasing shadows. Recently, some 744 so-called repentant terrorists graduated from the Federal Government’s De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration programme under Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State. There are plans to reintegrate them into the society.
Through this programme, over 5,000 former militants have reportedly been rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society over the years. Curiously, some of these repentant terrorists were said to have used the opportunity to escape military pressure. They later went back to their group after leaking intelligence to their active members.
A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, had noted that the recruitment list of the Nigerian Army and the police was once discovered to contain suspected Boko Haram members, armed robbers and other criminals.
Meanwhile, the outcome of the probe into the sudden withdrawal of soldiers from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State on the day the school was attacked is not certain yet. Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, had described the withdrawal as a clear case of sabotage. Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, said the military did not know who ordered the withdrawal. The Kebbi State Government, the Nigerian Army and the Senate all announced a probe into the matter. The soldiers were reportedly summoned to Abuja for grilling. So, what has happened afterwards?
The other day, President Bola Tinubu appointed Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Fadewa (retd). He is confident that Fadewa will help advance his administration’s efforts to achieve a safer and more secure Nigeria through improved coordination of homeland security initiatives, intelligence integration, and proactive risk management.
Perhaps, Fadewa will help to solve this problem of fifth columnists in the military. Or even help to resolve the riddle revolving around Matawalle, who has been alleged to have sympathy for terrorists.
We must get serious with the fight against terrorism if we intend to win the war. Whoever has any link with terrorists, either as a financier or an informant, must be tracked and punished according to the laws of the land. That is what serious countries do.
On April 13, 2026, a French court sentenced Bruno Lafont, a former CEO of a French cement company, Lafarge, to six years jail term for financing terrorism. A former deputy managing director of the company and a Syrian intermediary were also jailed while the company, now owned by Swiss conglomerate, Holcim, was fined €1.125 million, in addition to another €4.57 million, for violating international financial sanctions. Lafarge’s sin was that between 2013 and 2014, it paid about $6.5 million to such terrorist organizations as ISIS to maintain production at its factory in northern Syria.
In 2021, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal also convicted and sentenced six Nigerians designated as terror financiers to between life imprisonment and 10-year prison terms. Their assets were also frozen. They were accused of transferring about $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Nigeria has recently released an updated list of 48 terrorism financiers. But the type of punishment meted out to them remains to be seen.
Good enough, the collaboration between Nigeria and the US appears to be yielding fruit. The two countries carried a joint airstrike in Sokoto on Christmas Day 2025, targeting IS-linked groups.
Last Saturday, the US President, Donald Trump, announced that a senior ISIS commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, was killed in Nigeria by American forces, alongside the Nigerian Armed Forces. Several of his lieutenants were reportedly killed as well during the strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.
This was after a meticulous monitoring of the activities of the ISIS leader through intelligence sources. Al-Minuki was said to be the second in command of ISIS globally and the most active terrorist in the world. He was a senior Boko Haram commander until 2015 when he pledged his allegiance to IS.
His elimination is a sweet birthday gift for Sharibu. Al-Minuki, believed to have hailed from Borno State, was said to be behind the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping. Sharibu is still held captive since that day. The best gift will be to have her released soonest. May the soul of Al-Minuki continue to rot in hell! Amen!
