Family members of soldiers killed during recent battles against insurgents in the North-East urged the government to put an end to the bloodbath in the region.
The relatives, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH in separate interviews, also called on the Federal Government to demonstrate genuine commitment to the fight against insurgency by providing adequate arms and ammunition, improving the welfare of military personnel, and caring for the families of fallen soldiers.
The families spoke after Monday’s attack on a military base in Marte, Borno State, which claimed the lives of five soldiers.
Boko Haram insurgents had invaded the Forward Operating Base in the early hours of that day, overpowering the soldiers on duty, looting weapons, and escaping with military vehicles.
Multiple military sources told Saturday PUNCH that some soldiers, who witnessed the attack, abandoned their posts and returned to their hometowns.
The Defence Headquarters, however, said that the troops repelled the attack. In a statement on Friday, Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye said: ‘Troops of the AFN in Marte came under attack on Monday, 12 May 2025, around 3am.
‘However, the troops were able to repel the terrorists after a fierce gun battle, with a large number of terrorists neutralised while others escaped with bullet wounds’.
Since the beginning of this year, Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists had launched repeated attacks on military installations in Borno and Yobe States.
The insurgents launched their first attack of the year on a Forward Operating Base in Sabon Gari, Damboa Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State, four days into the year.
The Defence Headquarters confirmed that six soldiers were killed in the attack, while 34 terrorists were neutralised and 23 AK-47 rifles, along with over 200 rounds of ammunition, were recovered during a counteroffensive launched by the military.
No fewer than 20 soldiers, including a Commanding Officer, were also killed in an ISWAP attack on a military formation in Malam Fatori, Abadam LGA of Borno State, on 25 January.
Similarly, three soldiers were reported killed in a Boko Haram attack in Isige Town, Gwoza LGA on 15 February.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that no fewer than four soldiers died in coordinated attacks on military bases in Wajiroko and Wulgo villages of Borno on March 25.
On 4 May, ISWAP attacked Buni Gari in Yobe State, reportedly killing about 11 soldiers.
However, the Defence Headquarters has not released an official casualty figure for these attacks, except for the one on the Forward Operating Base in Sabon Gari, Damboa.
The distraught widow of a slain army sergeant in Benue State said she would never allow any of her relatives to join the military until the war against Boko Haram in the North-East was over. She said that her husband died in Borno State about three months ago during one of the attacks on military formations.
‘Because of what my husband went through, I will not encourage anyone close to me to join the military again. The soldiers were facing terrorists without proper weapons and other necessities. They lacked decent shelter and food. Their salary is also poor. The government is wasting the lives of innocent people fighting the terrorists’, she said.
She said that the military had yet to pay any compensation to the family since her husband’s death.
The widow, who had three children with the slain soldier, said the family had been struggling to survive since his passing and called on the military to pay the entitlements of all soldiers who died in active service and compensate their families.
A grieving Gombe indigene, Shamsudeen Abdullahi, whose brother, Kamaludeen Abdullahi, died on 7 May in battle, lamented that their family was in disarray. He said that 30-year-old Kamaludeen, an indigene of Yalmatu-Deba in Gombe State, was killed by Boko Haram in Gwoza, Borno State.
‘Life has been tough without our brother. He got married last year, and his wife is currently pregnant. He was very supportive to family members; our mother received N20,000 monthly from his salary, and some others got N10,000, N5,000’, Shamsudeen said.
He noted that the late soldier had applied for reposting out of Borno before he was killed.
‘About three months ago, he wrote a letter requesting a repost, but it wasn’t approved. A week later, an army captain died at Izage, and my brother was deployed to replace him. He, too, is gone now’, he said.
He urged the government and security agencies to end insurgency as soon as possible.
Widows of the slain military personnel also condemned what they described as neglect and ill-treatment by the government following the deaths of their husbands on the battlefield.
In Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital, the state’s Coordinator of the Military Widows’ Association, Asma’u Noma lamented that a substantial number of military widows were going through hardship with no support from the authorities.
According to her, about 30% of widows, whose husbands paid the supreme price, have yet to access their life insurance or death benefits. ‘A lot of them are wallowing in poverty and hunger’, she said.
Asma’u appealed to the Federal Government and the military high command to come to their aid, adding that some of the widows regretted marrying soldiers due to poor welfare and premature deaths.
‘Some of them regret marrying soldiers because of the ill-treatment they have received after their husbands’ untimely deaths. If the government continues to turn a blind eye to the plight of military widows, no parent will allow their son to join the army’, she said.
Also, the widow of a military officer, Malama Abdullahi, who lost her husband in Maiduguri during an attack by Boko Haram, decried the failure of the military authorities to support the families of slain soldiers.
She said that life had been hellish since her husband died.
The widow, who has four children and currently lives with her relatives in the Karkasara area of Tarauni LGA in Kano State, stressed the need for the military to design a comprehensive welfare package for the families of fallen soldiers.
‘The condition of most families of deceased soldiers, especially those with lower ranks, is very poor. They cannot feed properly, let alone pay their children’s school fees or settle medical bills.
‘I wonder why families of those who sacrificed their lives for the country are not being looked after. If not for my relatives, we would have been sleeping on the streets’, she lamented.
