On Monday, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed it had killed “more than 40 Nigerian soldiers” in Metele and seized “four tanks” along with other vehicles and ammunition.

From above, Monguno resembles a fortified stronghold. Deep trenches cut into the sand around this garrison town in northeast Nigeria’s conflict-ridden Borno State, acting as protective barriers.

These defences have helped keep Monguno relatively secure, even as jihadist attacks on military bases have surged in recent months amid a prolonged 16-year insurgency.

Although the intensity of fighting in Borno has lessened since its peak in 2015 with militants pushed back from several areas fighters from ISWAP and its rival group Boko Haram continue to mount assaults. This year alone, they have attacked or briefly captured more than a dozen army bases in Borno and neighbouring Yobe State.

Monguno itself briefly fell to insurgents in 2015.

Since 2019, the Nigerian military has shifted its strategy, withdrawing from smaller outposts and rural villages to consolidate forces in fortified garrison towns, often referred to as “super camps,” to better protect personnel.

However, critics argue that this approach has allowed insurgents to operate freely in rural areas.

Rising Threat of IEDs

Access roads into Monguno are heavily guarded. Barriers line the approaches to slow incoming vehicles, especially toward the northern outskirts and the Lake Chad basin areas that experience frequent attacks.

Just beyond the final trench line, two soldiers equipped with metal detectors inspect the route.

“We clear this 10-kilometre (six-mile) stretch every morning to detect and remove any explosive devices planted overnight,” explained Major Oluwafemi Seyingbo, 37, who leads the demining team.

According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, the number of improvised explosive device (IED) incidents surged dramatically in 2024 across Nigeria’s three northeastern states. The blasts caused 418 civilian casualties double the figure recorded in 2023.

Twelve army checkpoints control access points into Monguno, each staffed by Nigerian troops.

Major Friday Feekwe, 37, oversees one of them.

“In March, we repelled two separate attacks within just a few weeks. The insurgents came in large numbers and were heavily armed,” he said.

Since then, the checkpoint has been reinforced with a watchtower camouflaged with netting and fitted with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun.

Monguno has remained barricaded for the past four years to deter Boko Haram assaults.

At the height of its power in 2013 and 2014, Boko Haram drew international attention for the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, also in Borno. At one point, the group controlled an estimated 30,000 square kilometres (12,600 square miles) of territory across countries surrounding Lake Chad.

‘There Is Peace Here’

Today, Monguno serves as a sanctuary for thousands of displaced people from across Borno State, thanks in part to the presence of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin.

The MNJTF’s Nigerian sector command is based in Monguno, making it a hub of military coordination and relative stability.

Just outside the base, 30-year-old Umar Bullam worked safely with a spade in hand.

“I used to farm more than five kilometres from here, but I had to abandon my land after Boko Haram looted my crops and took my fertiliser,” he said.

“There is peace and security here,” said Hauwa Garba, 35, who arrived two months ago at the Monguno registration centre for displaced persons. She had fled from southern Niger, where she had lived for 11 years.

According to her, jihadists stormed her village “in the middle of the night, killed the adults, and kidnapped the children.”

She still has no news about her 15-year-old daughter, Aisha, who was abducted during the attack.

Borno State alone accounts for nearly half of Nigeria’s 3.6 million internally displaced persons, according to United Nations data.

“Nigeria has managed to prevent jihadist groups from capturing major towns and cities as they did in 2013, 2014, and 2016,” noted Vincent Foucher, a researcher at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Still, despite the expanded trench networks and enhanced aerial surveillance, he warned that the country “continues to struggle with launching deep attacks into insurgent-controlled territories in remote areas.”

This renewed wave of attacks is particularly troubling as insurgent groups now possess more advanced weaponry. A striking example was the first recorded use of drones in an attack on December 24, 2024, targeting the Wajiroko military base in northeast Nigeria.

“Thanks to drone precision, the Islamic State in West Africa if not swiftly contained could begin turning even well-secured military outposts and civilian settlements into vulnerable targets,” the Institute for Security Studies (ISS Africa) cautioned in a June 2025 report.