Over 200 killed as Boko Haram, ISWAP fight for Supremacy in Lake Chad

By Muhammad Maitela, Damaturu

More than 200 people have reportedly been killed following intense clashes between Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), in the Lake Chad area of Borno State.
The fierce battle, which erupted on Sunday in Dogon Chiku; a remote community on the shores of Lake Chad, was one of the bloodiest confrontations between the two rival groups in recent years.
According to intelligence and militia sources, the fighting was fueled by a renewed struggle for territorial control between the factions, whose rivalry dates back to their split in 2016 over ideological differences.
“From the reports we received, around 200 ISWAP terrorists were killed during the clashes,” said Babakura Kolo, a member of a local anti-jihadist militia assisting Nigerian troops in the region.
A former Boko Haram member who has since renounced violence but still monitors militant activities confirmed the heavy casualties. He said Boko Haram lost only four fighters, while several weapons were seized from ISWAP combatants.
“This could be the bloodiest confrontation between the two groups since they began fighting each other,” said the source, who identified himself simply as Saddiku, speaking from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Security officials monitoring the situation also acknowledged the scale of the violence. One intelligence officer, who requested anonymity, estimated the death toll at over 150 and described the development as a positive outcome for Nigerian security forces.
“We are aware of the fighting, and it’s good news for us,” the officer said.
Boko Haram and ISWAP have been locked in a brutal struggle for dominance across the Lake Chad Basin, an area spanning Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Their decade-long feud has displaced thousands of families, disrupted livelihoods, and deepened the humanitarian crisis in one of Nigeria’s most unstable regions.
As the two factions continue to clash, civilians remain trapped between their battles, living in constant fear, hoping for peace in a region that has known little of it for over ten years.