By Tom Garba
The remnants of Boko Haram and those acting using the face of ISWAP have found some parts of Adamawa state as their target means of survival. Hong Local Government in the central Senatorial zone of Adamawa State, particularly communities under the Hoba (Kilba) Chiefdom Garaha, Dabna, Bangna/Banga, Mubang, Zah, Bitirhuya, Kwapre, Mayo Ladde, Gaya-Dlang and in others in parts of Gombi Local Government area (Garkida) has become the new epicenter of a complex insurgency that is no longer just Boko Haram. It’s a coordinated security threats using those communities as their catchment areas of survival and signalling their existence to what they believe.
My findings shows a dangerous fusion Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters operating from the Sambisa Forest corridor and Mandara Mountains are now tactically connected with armed bandits and kidnappers who have taken over deserted villages as logistics bases.
The incessant attacks became unbearable burdens to sons and daughters of Hoba land as households in hundreds and communities has been ransacked and deserted because of insurgents attacks. They cried, and cried more than enough. The cry of Tol Alheri Bulus and other Kilba stakeholders is not political it is a cry of existential threats.
Hong shares a direct border with Borno – specifically Askira-Uba LGA, gateway to Sambisa. This geography is its curse. It became the gate way in and out of Hong communities. Where there are free entry and free exit,at will, for purpose and unpurpose. The gates through the routes of Hoba communities are free and unchecked. It became a free entry and exit area for any individual,or group of people.
Dabna for example experience repeatedly attacked during one of their operations killed 3 persons, houses, shops burnt, food items looted, the attackers came on motorcycles at 2am, shooting sporadically.
Garaha is Hoba community that gave birth to former SGF Boss Mustapha and it’s the base of Military formation of the 232 Battalion which was attacked twice with the Latest one on the eve of Nigeria’s 66th Independence. The attackers killed three soldiers and one Forest Guard. The injured 10 soldiers and abducted 2 women.
They burnt down the entire military camp, weapons and an armoured vehicle looted and only Living Faith Church building left standing. Chairman of Hong LGA, Dr. Aliyu Yerima Sa’ad Hong confirmed the casualties are at FMC Hong some few months ago.
Mubang and Zah (Garaha District): experienced third attack in 6 days in one week 14 people killed, dozens displaced, homes burnt and the insurgents Coordinated raid 8km from Garaha.
Gaya-Dlang, Bitirhuya, Banga: In August-Sept 2026 – Police Inspector and 7 civilians killed, 4 girls abducted in Gaya-Dlang. 4 killed and houses razed in Bitirhuya.
Their Modus Operandi: is always Midnight attacks with 2-3 insurgents per motorcycle, heavily armed and always ambush from rear axis to overwhelm military. Looting of food, weapons, then burning of primary schools, markets, houses and military camps is their normal way of operation, abduction for ransom economy it’s the merchandising tactics for survival.
There is a Nexus connection between the Boko Haram, ISWAP, Bandits, Kidnappers. What is happening in Hong it’s what we are seeing happening in Zamfara, Niger, and Kaduna. All across Many spheres, parts of Nigeria they all have their unique insecurity threats.
The Ideological is Criminal driven by either the Boko Haram/ISWAP, they provide the terror ideology and training, while bandits provide the local terrain knowledge and kidnapping-for-ransom network. Village Replacement after attacks, villagers flee to Hong town or Yola. Bandits and their families occupy the abandoned hamlets in Dugwaba and Yadul Districts. This creates new enclaves. Over 600 villages have been abandoned in the border corridor since 2013.
One of their major sources of livelihood is for Economic Sustenance. They always Looted grains from Dabna and Bangna, sold in markets in Borno and even Cameroon. Ransom from kidnapping funds arms purchase.
The reason Why Current Security Measures Have Failed it’s because of its Static Defense nature .The military maintains a base in Garaha, but it is undermanned and static. Insurgents monitor it and attack from multiple axes simultaneously. Poor Intelligence network has contributed in successful operations of the criminals. Locals reported movement days before, but no air component response until after attack. The recent successful air interdiction at 5:30am in Boima that killed 16 terrorists shows air power works – but it is reactive, not preventive.
No Holding Force is another ways insurgents strength on after Army repels attackers, there is no Civilian JTF, Forest Guards, or Agro-Rangers to hold the ground. Communities like Zah and Mubang are left unprotected.
The result affect the people of Hoba Chiefdom and they have lost faith. As AKURDA cried in Kaduna for many terror attacks kidnapping of their wives and able men, the people of Hong are also asking: “Are we still part of Nigeria?”
Effective Policy Recommendations, implementation are What Government Must Do Now to end all forms of insecurity threats. The crisis in Adamawa cannot be treated in isolation. It is linked to the nationwide insecurity chain . Zamfara, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Katsina are the frontline, while Sokoto, Kano, Gombe, Bauchi are the flashpoints.
The new security majors required by government of states, Local Government and federal to adopt are;
1. Create a Hong-Gombi- Askira Uba Joint Security Corridor- a unified theatre Command for the Adamawa-Borno border, not separate state commands. With a permanent Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Garaha with air surveillance drones.
2. Implement Community-Based Intelligence Policy- Legally empower and pay the Forest Guards and Local Hunters who know the Sambisa-Mandara routes. In Dabna, local vigilantes shot one terrorist but had no backup.
3. Villages Reclamation Policy-Government must not allow abandoned villages to be occupied by bandits. A policy for safe return – rebuilding burnt schools, clinics, and providing agro-inputs – with a 6-month military hold.
4. Cut the Ransom Economy, Enforce the law criminalizing ransom payment while creating a Victims Support Fund. Over N100m has been paid in neighbouring Lere LGA alone – same pattern is happening in Hong.
5. Early Warning Technology- Deploy satellite and drone surveillance over the 6-10km stretch from Sambisa to Hong. The insurgents use motorcycles – they are visible.
6. Humanitarian and Psychological Intervention- For Kilba people – IDPs in Hong, Gombi, and Yola need food, trauma counselling, and protection for farming season. Food security in Adamawa will collapse if Dabna and Garaha cannot farm.
The attack on a military formation in Garaha where soldiers were killed and injured is a red flag. If insurgents can overrun a battalion base, no village in Hong is safe.
Tol Alheri Bulus and other voices from the Hoba Chiefdom are not just crying for Hong. They are warning Nigeria. The same model that started in Borno in 2009, spread to Zamfara in 2015, and consumed Niger and Kaduna in 2020, is now consolidating in Adamawa.
Without a new, integrated, and community-anchored security policy, the entire Northern Nigeria will remain in a cycle of attack, displacement, and ransom.
The federal, State and local Government must act now, act faster than ever acted before Hong becomes another war zone from the cricks of Sambisa.
. Tom Garba, a conflict, crisis, policy and political analyst, writes from Jimeta, Adamawa State
