June 2014 Borno State attacks

Background

Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group opposed to what it considers the Westernization of Nigeria, had killed thousands of people in Nigeria by mid-2014. The Nigerian federal government declared a state of emergency in Borno State in May 2013 in response to the insurgency, but the resulting military crackdown failed to stabilize the region.

Attacks by the group intensified through 2014. In February, more than 100 Christian men were killed in the villages of Doron Baga and Izghe, and 59 boys were killed in an attack on the Federal Government College in Yobe State. By mid-April, Boko Haram was blamed for nearly 4,000 deaths that year. In April, militants attacked a school in Chibok and kidnapped 276 girls, 57 of whom escaped; this drew international attention and pledges of assistance from Western nations, though negotiations for the girls' release stalled. Further attacks followed in May and early June, including bombings in Jos, a raid on a village, a bombing in Mubi, and what has been called the Gwoza massacre, in which no fewer than 300 villagers were reportedly killed across three communities.

Kidnappings

Around the weekend of 21–22 June 2014, suspected Boko Haram militants attacked the village of Kummabza and three other villages in the Damboa district of Borno State. According to eyewitnesses, the attackers abducted 60 women and girls and 31 boys, some of the women married and some children as young as three. A vigilante leader said four villagers who attempted to escape were shot, and an eyewitness reported around 30 men had been killed. Elderly villagers walked 15 miles to report the attack and seek help. Borno governor Kashim Shettima ordered an official probe, but the national government initially denied any abductions had occurred, a claim contradicted by a local politician, multiple eyewitnesses speaking to Agence France-Presse, and an anonymous Nigerian intelligence officer who told the Associated Press an attack had occurred, though he placed the abduction a week earlier, between 13 and 15 June.

Bombings and shootings

On 21 and 22 June, suspected militants attacked the villages of Chuha A, Chuha B, and Korongilim near Chibok. Military and vigilante forces resisted, and the villages were destroyed; at least 40 villagers, six vigilantes, and about 25 militants were killed. On 23 June, a bomb at a college in Kano killed 8 people and injured about 20. On the night of 28 June, a bombing at a brothel in Bauchi killed 11 people and injured 28.

Analysis and aftermath

Analysts suggested the attacks demonstrated stalled international counter-efforts against Boko Haram, and that the new kidnappings may have been intended to divert attention from the Chibok kidnappings and increase pressure for a hostage exchange. On 7 July 2014, it was reported that more than 60 of the kidnapped women had escaped from Boko Haram captivity.