Maiduguri, Borno State – March 8, 2026 — Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South in the National Assembly, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to match the declared state of emergency on security with decisive, sustained and coordinated military action against terrorist groups operating in Nigeria’s North-East.
The lawmaker made the demand on Sunday while reacting to the deadly attack on Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday. The assault, attributed to Boko Haram insurgents, left more than 50 residents dead, including the chief imam of the town, several community leaders, women and children. Many others were abducted, with eyewitness accounts putting the number of missing persons at over 100. A number of soldiers who responded to the attack also lost their lives in the ensuing gun battle.
Ndume described the incident as evidence that insurgents continue to move freely across their traditional hideouts, including Sambisa Forest, the Lake Chad basin and the Mandara Mountains. He said the attack was carefully coordinated, with fighters launching from multiple locations and using well-known routes to converge on the target community.
“Government should walk its talk on emergency by engaging in coordinated and sustainable attacks on the targets, especially in the North-East,” Ndume stated. “They should carry out consistent clearance operations in Lake Chad, Sambisa Forest, and the Mandara because the recent attacks were well coordinated by the insurgents.”
“For example, the Ngoshe massacre was carried out by the insurgents from the Mandara mountains, assisted by others from Sambisa and Lake Chad, using their known routes, including the Mandara mountains, Lake Chad, and Sambisa,” he added.
The senator reiterated his long-standing call for President Tinubu to establish a dedicated situation room in the Presidential Villa to monitor security operations in real time and brief Nigerians directly on progress. “Since the President has declared a state of emergency, he should have a situation room in his office in the Villa. He should use that to brief Nigerians directly. They want to hear from him from time to time,” Ndume said.
He also criticised the current level of funding for the Nigerian military, describing the budgetary allocation for the Nigerian Army as “insignificant” relative to the scale of the security challenges. Ndume advocated for front-loading defence budgets to enable timely procurement of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, surveillance equipment and other critical logistics needed to sustain offensive operations against insurgents.
“The Nigerian Army budget is insignificant compared to what is in the budget; that’s less than 10 percent of the budget, and the Nigerian Army budget should be front-loaded,” he stated.
Ndume has been vocal about the resurgence of attacks in parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states despite previous military gains against Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). He has repeatedly highlighted the need for sustained clearance operations in known insurgent sanctuaries and improved intelligence-sharing among security agencies.
The Ngoshe attack is the latest in a series of violent incidents that have raised fresh concerns about the effectiveness of current counter-insurgency strategies in the North-East. Community leaders in Gwoza and surrounding areas have called for increased military presence, better early-warning systems, and urgent humanitarian support for displaced families.
The military has not yet issued an official casualty figure or detailed response to the attack, but sources in the theatre command confirmed that troops are conducting follow-up operations in the area. The Borno State Government has also announced plans to provide relief materials to affected residents.
President Tinubu declared a state of emergency on security in parts of the North-East and North-West in late 2025, promising enhanced funding and coordination. However, critics, including Senator Ndume, argue that implementation has been slow, with insurgents exploiting gaps in troop deployment and logistics.
The call for intensified operations comes as the Federal Government prepares its 2026 defence budget, with lawmakers expected to push for increased allocations to the military and security agencies. Ndume’s remarks are likely to influence ongoing debates in the National Assembly on funding priorities and the need for more aggressive kinetic action against terrorist groups.
As Borno residents mourn the victims of the Ngoshe massacre, attention now turns to whether the federal government will respond with the kind of decisive battlefield action the senator has demanded, or if the cycle of sporadic attacks and reactive deployments will continue.
