Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum expressed sadness over the use of drones by Boko Haram terrorists to attack soldiers.
Despite intelligence that the Mafa area of the state would be attacked, troops were unable to prevent it from happening.
Zulum disclosed this on Friday during a post-assessment visit to areas attacked by Boko Haram in the early hours of Thursday.
He said, “Honestly speaking, we have credible intelligence that Mafa will be attacked, and it has been duly circulated to all relevant authorities.
“I believe there is a need for us to come together, including the state and federal governments, as well as the military high command, to identify the gaps and address them directly.”
“I believe there might be sabotage within that has to be identified and addressed. We don’t have to blame each other; we have to come together and resolve this situation,” the governor stated.
Zulum, who spoke on the drone use, said, “One thing I want to comment on is the issue of drones. This is frightening. In Dikwa, I was told drones were used. The proliferation of drones, particularly in the hands of non-state actors, is of great concern for the entire country. We have to do something to stop the rampant use of armed drones,” Zulum said.
The governor emphasized that the incident is not just a concern for Borno State but a direct threat to national security.
He urged the federal government to conduct an early and thorough examination of the nation’s air safety and defense mechanisms.
“Our borders need to be strengthened, and our airspace needs to be strengthened as well. This is something that we need to address urgently; this is not an issue confined to Borno alone.
“This is the right time for the security architecture to thoroughly look into strengthening the capability of our airspace to curtail the use of armed drones by terrorists,” he said.
While praising the Nigerian Armed Forces, Zulum also asked the public to assist security services by sharing verifiable information about suspicious activities in their communities.
He said, “We are here to commiserate with the victims over what happened yesterday and build the confidence of our people.”
The governor added, “I urge the community to be vigilant and report credible information to the Nigerian Armed Forces. The members of the CJTF should also be resilient enough to complement the effort of the Army.”
Chronicle NG reported that troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed more than 50 terrorists and repelled multiple coordinated attacks on military locations across Borno and Yobe States on Thursday.
The Nigerian military stated that the simultaneous attacks occurred between midnight and 0400 hours on Thursday when terrorists launched assaults on troops’ positions in Dikwa, Mafa, Gajibo, and Katarko, situated within Sectors 1 and 2 of the Joint Operations Area.
Lt.-Col. Sani Uba, the Joint Task Force North East (OPHK) Media Information Officer, said in a statement issued on Thursday in Maiduguri that the troops battled gallantly and professionally, repelling the onslaught and inflicting catastrophic casualties on the terrorists.
The statement reads: “Troops of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) with renewed vigor successfully defeated terrorist attacks on multiple locations across the Joint Operations Area in the early hours of today, October 23, 2025.
“Between midnight and 0400 hours, the terrorists launched coordinated assaults on troops’ positions in Dikwa, Mafa, Gajibo, and Katarko, situated in Sector 1 (Borno State) and Sector 2 (Yobe State), respectively,” he said.
“The combined ground and air efforts resulted in the neutralization of over 50 terrorists across all the locations,” he said.
