In Borno State, terrorists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are said to have taken total control of the Marte Local Government Area after a strong attack overpowered Nigerian forces last weekend.
The terrorists carried out a series of coordinated attacks that forced the Nigerian Army to withdraw from its positions in the area by May 12, 2025, according to a military insider who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity.
The source also stated that the military was finally forced to withdraw from Marte at 3 AM on May 12, 2025, following a string of intermittent attacks.
“A large number of soldiers (an unknown number) were taken prisoner and many deserted; the soldiers that are currently running toward Dikwa are at the 24 Task Force Brigade. Marte is now under ISWAP control.
Dikwa was the scene of all gunfire, and the Nigeria Air Force was observed circling the area. The source allegedly informed SaharaReporters, “The number of casualties has not yet been specified.”
The Nigerian military has been struggling to combat the ten-year insurgency in the Northeast, and the takeover of Marte, a crucial local government area in the Lake Chad region, is said to be a serious setback.
As a strategic and symbolic target for ISWAP and government forces, the town has seen multiple changes of power in recent years.
When Boko Haram stormed a Nigerian Army post in Borno State, reports said many Nigerian troops were killed.
In the previous attack, troops were displaced from the base of the 153 Task Force Battalion in Marte Local Government Council on Saturday night.
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The attackers reportedly burned armored vehicles and confiscated ammunition during the raid, according to sources.
A Major in the Army, one of the sources, informed SaharaReporters, “We already lost communication with the base since the attack, so many of our men are feared dead due to another Boko Haram dislodgement in Marte 153 TF Battalion on Saturday night.”
Boko Haram and the 153rd Task Force Battalion (153 TF Battalion) in Borno State, Nigeria, have engaged in a number of conflicts, including ambushes and the reoccupation of strategic locations like Marte.
The event comes after 22 troops, including a commanding officer, were killed in an attack on a military facility in Malam-Fatori, which is in Borno State’s Abadam Local Government Area.
Nigeria has had a serious war with insurgency groups for almost a decade, with the majority of the fighting taking place in the country’s northeast.
The most prominent of these organizations is Boko Haram, which began in the early 2000s but intensified its use of violence in 2009, launching a campaign of terror marked by attacks on both military and civilian targets, bombings, and mass kidnappings.
