The recent deaths of senior officers in the Nigerian Army couldn’t be more alarming:
Colonel Abu Ali was killed, alongside his soldiers, in an ambush by Boko Haram fighters in Malam Fatori, Borno State.
Colonel Dahiru Bako died in an ambush with his troops on the Sabon Gari-Wajiroko axis in Damboa LGA, Borno.
Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu fell during a mission with his soldiers in Askira Uba, Borno.
Brigadier General Musa Uba was ambushed and killed, again with his unit, along Wajiroko in Damboa LGA, Borno.
These are not isolated incidents—they are part of a bleak pattern. In January 2025, at least 20 soldiers died when ISWAP fighters overran an army base in Malam-Fatori. In a separate wave of violence, 35 soldiers were reported killed over a three-week span in the same region.
These losses of senior leadership and many rank-and-file troops bring into sharp relief the scale of the challenge in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency—now well over a decade old—has drained resources, morale and exposed systemic weaknesses in how the military operates and is supported.
It is time to face the truth: what Nigeria confronts is more than a regional crisis—it is a multidimensional national emergency. It covers military capacity, governance, local intelligence, logistics, civilian coordination, and above all, public recognition of what our soldiers are sacrificing.
These officers and their men didn’t sign up for parades. They signed up to defend territory, communities and a nation under threat. Their deaths demand not only condolences but urgent policy response: reinforced armoured units, better field intelligence, improved supply chains, enhanced training in unconventional warfare, and strategic reforms.
Beyond that, these elite casualties send a powerful message to the nation: our troops are doing so much, at tremendous cost. They deserve commendation—not as a form of lip-service, but as a genuine recognition of what is being asked of them. For every headline of a strike, there are dozens of patrols, bases held under siege, logistics convoys that never make it, and soldiers who never return home.
What we owe our troops is more than appreciation. We owe them action—action to reform leadership structures, improve rules of engagement and ensure they aren’t sent repeatedly into situations where defeat is predictable due to systemic failures.
In the past three years alone, the battlefield in Borno has seen a sustained wave of soldier fatalities, base overrunings and equipment losses. While detailed official numbers are sparse, credible sources point to dozens of deaths and repeated ambushes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates thousands of security-related deaths and major displacement across Borno State.
We must convert the sorrow into resolve. The Nigerian Army—and the country it protects—cannot afford complacency. A secure Nigeria requires that we back the troops, reform institutional weaknesses, and treat this not as regional noise but a national emergency of the first order.
To the men and women of the Nigerian Army who serve in the most difficult terrain under the harshest conditions: thank you. The country must now show that your sacrifice is matched by national will, policy transformation and enduring support to remove all intelligence failures and leakages by unpatriotic members, which lead to the ambush and attacks.
1 – Colonel Abu Ali killed alongside his soldiers in an ambush by Boko Haram in Malam Fatori in Borno State
2 – Colonel Dahiru Bako – Killed in an ambush with his soldiers in Sabon Gari-Wajiroko axis in Damboa LG, Borno.
3 – Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu- Killed in an ambush with his soldiers in Askira Uba, Borno State.
4 – Brigadier General Musa Uba – ambushed and killed with his soldiers along Wajiroko in Damboa LG, Borno.
The Nigerian military is losing too many fine soldiers in Borno State.
The crux of the insecurity ravaging parts of the country is the national mania about 2027. Governance has been wholly and totally abandoned in the craze to join the APC. Public office holders have run amok about second term tickets.
We have to face the truth at some point: A multidimensional national emergency may be inescapable.
The National Patriots Movement.
Headlinenews.news special report.
