Suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked St. Mary‘s Catholic Church during Sunday service in Waga Chakawa (also known as Chakawa) village, Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State. The attackers, armed with AK‑47 rifles and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), were reportedly wearing military uniforms, leading some residents to initially mistake them for soldiers. The gunmen first killed two police officers—an inspector and a sergeant—who were guarding the church. They then locked the congregation inside the building, detonated bombs, and shot or slit the throats of those attempting to escape through windows. After the church massacre, the militants went on a four‑hour rampage through the village, burning houses and taking residents hostage, including women, children and the elderly. The attack lasted from approximately 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Communications in the area were blocked by authorities.

Perpetrators

Boko Haram

Response

The military and police did not respond to requests for comment, although one army source confirmed the attack on condition of anonymity. The attack came just days after President Goodluck Jonathan sacked his military high command. Communications in the area were blocked by authorities.

Displacement

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Socioeconomic drivers

The attack was part of Boko Haram‘s intensified campaign to expand its insurgency, especially in areas bordering its Borno stronghold. By targeting a church during a service, the group sought to achieve maximum psychological impact, inflame religious tensions, and undermine the military’s state of emergency. The attack also demonstrated the group‘s ability to strike in Adamawa State, which had been relatively less affected than Borno and Yobe, signalling an expansion of the conflict zone.

Trajectory

The Waga Chakawa massacre was part of a coordinated wave of violence that swept through the northeast in January 2014. On the same day, Boko Haram attacked the village of Kawuri in Borno State, killing at least 85 people. Just days later, on 31 January 2014, the insurgents returned to Chakawa, killing a pastor and 10 members of his congregation. The scale and coordination of these attacks led Amnesty International to declare in March 2014 that the situation had “escalated into a non‑international armed conflict.”

Cycle notes

The tactics used at Waga Chakawa—targeting a church during a service, locking the congregation inside, executing those who tried to flee, and then conducting a house‑to‑house raid—represented a new level of calculated brutality that would become a hallmark of Boko Haram‘s 2014‑2015 campaign. The attack also echoed the February 2012 assault on Budum Primary School in Maiduguri, which had been part of the group’s initial “night‑raid“ strategy against infrastructure. By 2014, Boko Haram had extended this tactic from burning empty buildings to massacring people inside them, demonstrating a dangerous operational escalation.

Pattern

Sunday church service attack

Sources

• https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-nigeria-violence-idUSBREA0Q0WI20140127/
• https://www.fides.org/en/news/35123-AFRICA_NIGERIA_Boko_Haram_attacks_northern_Nigeria_also_a_Catholic_church_was_attacked
• https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/boko-haram-scores-feared-killed-gunmen-attack-church-adamawa/