{"id":97216,"date":"2025-10-05T23:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T23:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=97216"},"modified":"2025-10-05T23:45:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T23:45:00","slug":"thousands-flee-to-cameroon-as-boko-haram-seizes-nigerian-border-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=97216","title":{"rendered":"Thousands flee to Cameroon as Boko Haram seizes Nigerian border town"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 24 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

More than 5,000 people have fled Nigeria\u2019s northeast into neighbouring Cameroon after Boko Haram militants seized the border town of Kirawa in Borno state, residents and community leaders said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Insurgents in Nigeria\u2019s Borno state, the epicentre of a 16-year conflict driven by Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have\u00a0upped their attacks\u00a0this year against civilians and security forces.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the year, insurgents have overrun some army bases and communities in Borno, only to be beaten back by the military after seeking reinforcements.<\/p>\n

The assault late Thursday forced the district head, Abdulrahman Abubakar, to abandon his palace, which was burned along with a military barracks and dozens of homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was left with no option but to flee to Cameroon,\u201d Abubakar told Reuters by phone. \u201cResidents boarded trucks to seek refuge across the border, while others ran to Maiduguri,\u201d the state capital.<\/p>\n

Boko Haram\u00a0claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a video showing fighters torching the barracks while chanting \u201cvictory belongs to God\u201d as flames lit the night sky.<\/p>\n

Residents said Kirawa was now deserted. \u201cBoko Haram is in control,\u201d said Dauda Hassan, who escaped to Pulka, a neighbouring town where troops are stationed.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s attack followed a\u00a0September 19 assault\u00a0on Banki, another border town, where Boko Haram fighters overran a military barracks, forcing soldiers to flee and seizing weapons.<\/p>\n

Yakubu Mabba Ali Kirawa, head of the town\u2019s development group, called for urgent military reinforcements. He told Reuters that local vigilantes and residents remain the only security presence after a multinational military task force withdrew following an attack in August.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"ThousandsMore than 5,000 people have fled Nigeria’s northeast into neighbouring Cameroon after Boko Haram militants seized the border town of Kirawa in Borno state, residents and community leaders said on Friday.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,5348,1300,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-boko-haram","category-nigeria","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}