How terrorists stormed military base and killed General Braimah – Soldiers

Surviving soldiers gave harrowing accounts of the midnight rebel assault that killed 29th Brigade Task Force commander Brigadier Oseni Braimah, describing a numerically superior multidirectional attack that overwhelmed troops and temporarily broke their defensive line in Benisheikh, Borno state.

The attack, launched around 00.30am on Thursday by suspected fighters from Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, simultaneously targeted at least three military formations in the strategic town of Kaga Local Government Area along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway – one of the deadliest coordinated assaults on Nigerian military positions in recent months.

“We are used to coordinated attacks, but this was different. They came in large numbers from different directions at the same time. It seemed like they had been studying our positions for weeks,” a soldier who survived the attack told PUNCH on Saturday, speaking anonymously as he was not authorized to address the media.

A second survivor said the insurgents’ simple numerical advantage proved decisive. “We resisted at first, but there were too many of them. They attacked from different angles. It was like an ambush,” he said, adding that morale collapsed when word spread that other positions had fallen and that the brigade commander was dead. “That’s when fear took over.”

The psychological blow, the sources said, triggered a breakdown in coordination, forcing some troops to fall back into the city – a withdrawal that created a security vacuum exploited by insurgents to loot military facilities and set fire to civilian property. The firefight lasted more than 90 minutes, with multiple explosions forcing both soldiers and residents to flee into the night.

Accounts of how Braimah died remain disputed. Claims that he was killed due to a malfunction of a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle have been disputed by sources close to the brigade. “The insurgents actually set fire to the MRAP during the attack. To say that he died because the vehicle did not start is not accurate. The situation was much more complex,” said a highly placed source within the brigade.

Another insider noted that most of the people present in the general’s exact location during the assault also died, making it difficult to establish a definitive account. A former driver of the late general, who identified himself simply as Blacky, objected to any suggestion of negligence in maintenance by Braimah.

“If you talk about maintenance, General Braimah doesn’t play games with repairs. Ask anyone who is part of Task Force 29,” he said. However, a separate source within the lineup alleged systemic errors in vehicle maintenance, claiming that complaints had been raised previously.

Residents of Benisheikh described scenes of chaos as the attack spread to the city. “We heard loud explosions and continuous gunfire. It was terrifying. People were running in all directions. Even soldiers ran into the city for shelter,” said Mustapha Abu, a local resident.

Abu said insurgents burned shops and vehicles along main roads, and travelers resting near the Benisheikh secretariat – stranded due to the regular evening closure of the Maiduguri-Damaturu road – abandoned their vehicles and fled. “When I arrived at the camp after the attack, it was an eyesore,” he added.

Operation headquarters Hadin Kai rejected widespread reports of 17 military deaths, putting the official death toll at two officers and two soldiers. In a statement on Friday, Lt. Col. in charge of media information. Sani Uba described the alternative figures as “utterly false, misleading and lacking credibility”.

He also rejected the vehicle malfunction narrative, saying Braimah “was mounted on a high-quality MRAP vehicle, which was temporarily immobilized in the heat of combat while he was actively coordinating the counterattack” – framing it as evidence of frontline leadership, not equipment failure. Uba claimed that Operation Hadin Kai troops successfully repelled the attack, forced the insurgents into a disorganized retreat, and maintained control of their position.

Braimah’s death extends the sad roll call of senior Nigerian military officers killed in the North East insurgency. Brigadier General Musa Uba, commander of the 25th Brigade, was killed in 2025. Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu, commander of the 28th Task Force Brigade in Chibok, died along with three soldiers in an ISWAP ambush in Askira-Uba in November 2021. Colonel Dahiru Chiroma Bako died from wounds sustained in a Boko Haram ambush near Wajiroko in September 2020.

Lt. Col. Ibrahim Sakaba was killed during an attack on a base in northern Borno in November 2018, and Lt. Col. Muhammad Abu Ali died in November 2016. Security analysts say this recurring pattern raises urgent questions about operational strategy, intelligence gathering and force protection.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday evening expressed sorrow over the killings and praised troops for fighting to repel the assault.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the president described the insurgents’ offensive as an act of desperation in the face of continued military pressure.

“From reports I have received, our armed forces have conducted intense and sustained ground and air offensives against the insurgents, neutralizing many of their fighters and commanders,” Tinubu said, urging the military leadership and frontline personnel not to be discouraged. He assured that the federal government will honor the fallen soldiers and remained committed to defeating terrorism and restoring peace across the country.

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