KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Suspected Boko Haram fighters ambushed villagers gathering firewood in Marte, Borno State, on October 1.
- The initial count of 15-18 dead has climbed to at least 28 as search teams recovered more bodies over the weekend.
- Victims were ambushed, bound and executed at close range in the villages of Ala, Gummna and Musune, residents said.
- Amnesty International condemned the attack and urged Nigerian authorities to protect vulnerable rural communities.
The men and elders who walked into the bush near Marte last Thursday morning were doing what their families have always done: gathering firewood to sell or to cook with. They never came back.
Suspected Boko Haram militants ambushed them in the villages of Ala, Gummna and Musune, in Marte local government area of northeastern Borno State — roughly 130 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri. Residents said the attackers bound the victims and executed them at close range before melting back into the bush. Three people remain missing.
The confirmed toll has kept climbing. Borno police initially reported 15 killed, and Reuters’ local sources put the figure at 18 on Friday. By Sunday, anti-jihadist militia leader Babakura Kolo said search teams had recovered 13 more bodies in the surrounding bushes, bringing the total to at least 28. The victims suffered gunshot wounds, and some of the first bodies were buried Thursday evening under Islamic rites.
Marte sits in one of the areas hardest hit by the 17-year-old insurgency led by Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in raids across the northeast. Firewood gatherers and farmers are especially exposed: as security forces push militants back, villagers venture further into contested bush for livelihoods — and into ambushes.
Amnesty International condemned the killings as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and urged Nigerian authorities to strengthen protection for communities exposed to attacks by armed groups, so civilians can reach their farms and sources of livelihood without being subjected to violence.
A senior military officer said troops had launched clearance operations in the area and were pursuing the attackers. The massacre came as troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed 16 insurgents in Adamawa state in a two-day operation — a reminder that the insurgency, well into its second decade, can still trade blows with the military and slaughter civilians in the same week.
