The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of New Marte in Borno State’s Marte Local Government Area was killed by members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Reports indicate that the DPO, a Superintendent of Police, died on Monday night while defending the police station in the resettled community from terrorists who infiltrated the area on foot during the night.
On Wednesday, Nahun Kenneth, the spokesman for the Borno State Police Command, confirmed the officer’s death, noting that details of the attack were still being gathered.
A military personnel stationed in New Marte disclosed that the terrorists were targeting a resident who had sought refuge at the police station. The terrorists had entered the town on foot, abandoning their usual motorcycles and vehicles.
New Marte, located 93 kilometres from Maiduguri near the Lake Chad region, is a resettled community previously overrun by terrorists but rebuilt under Professor Babagana Zulum’s administration. Despite efforts to stabilise the region, ISWAP and Boko Haram continue to conduct ambushes and plant landmines along the highway.
In January, two mine blasts along the highway killed 17 people, and in April, a landmine claimed 10 more lives.
Since 2009, the conflict in Nigeria has resulted in 40,000 deaths and displaced around two million people in the northeast.
The violence has also spread to neighbouring countries including Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Recent military coups in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, along with the withdrawal of French and US troops from the Sahel, have raised concerns about increasing regional instability and the potential for violence to reach coastal West African states.
