Taraba Massacre, Niger State Abductions and 34 Foreigners Arrested in Benue Standfirst: The military made significant counter-terrorism gains between 25 October and 3 November, but attacks on civilians continued across the North East, North West and North Central.
At least 157 civilians were killed across Nigeria between 25 October and 3 November 2026. In the same period, the military killed a member of ISWAP’s ruling Shura Council in Borno State, according to Ndeya Live’s weekly Nigeria and Sahel Security Update.
The deadliest single attack took place on Monday, 27 October, when gunmen killed at least 62 people in a community in Taraba State. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the toll. The authorities have not said who carried out the attack.
In Kebbi State, more than 30 armed men stormed Riba in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area on 31 October and killed more than 20 people. Witnesses said the attackers carried AK-47-type rifles and withdrew toward the Zamfara border. The area, in the Zuru Emirate of southern Kebbi, is predominantly Christian and has suffered repeated incursions.
In Zamfara, gunmen on motorbikes attacked a mining village and ambushed traders and their security escorts, killing at least 20 people. In Plateau State, four residents were killed despite a curfew. On 1 November, gunmen killed a soldier at a military checkpoint in Riyom LGA and seized two weapons. Operation Enduring Peace said it had launched a pursuit.
On 28 October in Niger State, bandits abducted 29 women and a boy from several communities. Eleven escaped, and at least 19 are still held. In September, 47 women were abducted while harvesting groundnuts in the state.
In the North East, ISWAP launched coordinated attacks on military positions in Borno and Yobe between 28 and 30 October. Defence Headquarters said troops repelled all of them, killing 48 fighters and recovering 42 rifles. One soldier died.
On 31 October, troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed Abu Hajira, a member of ISWAP’s Shura Council, and senior commander Abu Walid, along with two Arab fighters, in Kukawa LGA. Five days earlier, strikes near Tumbuma in south Lake Chad killed 16 ISWAP fighters, including an Arab commander, and severely wounded the group’s regional wali. Footage recovered in Kukawa in July had already identified a Palestinian trainer and a Moroccan doctor working with the group.
In Benue State, police rescued 129 kidnap victims and arrested 48 suspects, 34 of them foreign nationals, in an operation on 27–28 October. The authorities have not said which countries they come from. In Rivers State, the Navy intercepted 132,000 litres of stolen crude oil. No arrests were reported.
In the Sahel, Algeria approved its first foreign troop deployment since 1973, sending units to northern Niger to protect energy facilities. The route is linked to the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline that would carry Nigerian gas to Europe. In Mali, a drone strike by the army killed at least 13 people. Human rights activists said they were civilians, while the army said it was targeting militants. A UN Security Council briefing on 2 November put the number of displaced people in Burkina Faso at 6.8 million.
Nigeria still has no public database of people who have been kidnapped or released. It is not known how many people armed groups are holding.
Rimamnde Shawulu is the host of Ndeya Live, which provides analysis of Nigerian politics, security and governance, and the author of The Middle Belt.
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