|By Chinwendu Nwani
A fresh wave of brutal clashes has erupted in the Lake Chad Basin as rival jihadist groups — Boko Haram’s Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) — battle for control of key island settlements in Borno State’s Abadam and Kukawa Local Government Areas.
According to a Sunday report by counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, the clashes raged between November 5 and 8, 2025, across strategic islands including Sahel 1, Dogon Chuku, Mangari, and the riverine basins of Tumbun Gini, Tumbun Dalo, Tumbun Shanu, Mangari, and Dumba.
Makama revealed that Boko Haram fighters, led by commanders Hassan Buduma and Mohd Hassan, launched coordinated amphibious assaults using motorized boats fitted with heavy weapons. The militants advanced from Tumbun Gini, striking ISWAP positions in what security sources described as a “fierce insurgent-style offensive.”
ISWAP reportedly abandoned several camps and retreated towards mainland hideouts around Ali Jillimari, Metele, Kangarwa, and Gudumbali. While casualty figures remain uncertain, intelligence surveillance spotted multiple corpses floating in the river and others hastily buried in shallow graves.
Boko Haram’s renewed offensive reportedly aims to wipe out ISWAP from the Lake Chad islands and seize lucrative smuggling and supply routes that connect Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon — channels said to generate millions of naira through extortion of traders, fishermen, and transport operators.
ISWAP had dominated the area since the 2021 death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, but receding water levels have reopened old routes and exposed abandoned fishing settlements, reigniting territorial rivalries.
Security analysts warn that the latest hostilities mark a dangerous escalation from sporadic skirmishes to a sustained territorial war. They predict more ambushes, improvised explosive devices, and attacks along key transport routes linking Metele, Kangarwa, and the Maiduguri–Damasak highway.
Communities in Kukawa and Abadam LGAs — particularly fishermen, farmers, and transport operators — are already bearing the brunt of the violence as both groups stage retaliatory raids and disrupt local livelihoods.
Observers say the Lake Chad Basin, long notorious for its challenging terrain, has again become the epicentre of a deadly struggle for power between the extremist factions — a war that leaves civilians trapped and humanitarian conditions worsening by the day.
