A team of loggers returned to the site where a Boko Haram ambush had occurred the previous day (5 March 2018) to retrieve a pickup van abandoned during the attack. While doing so, they stepped on a landmine planted by Boko Haram. The explosion killed four loggers instantly.
6 Mar 2018 · Near Dikwa town, Dikwa, Borno
Deaths
4
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
4
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
Babakura Kolo and Ibrahim Liman, leaders of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), confirmed both the March 5 ambush and the March 6 landmine explosion to AFP. Kolo stated: "Four people died yesterday (Tuesday) just outside Dikwa as a result of an explosion from a mine planted by Boko Haram. They were among a team of loggers who were attacked by Boko Haram on Monday while on their way to the bush to collect firewood under security escort"
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Disrupting access to basic resources (firewood) and farming activities to create fear and economic hardship in affected communities.
Trajectory
In March 2018, there was a continuation of low-intensity hit-and-run attacks on soft civilian targets, such as loggers, in rural areas near Dikwa and Maiduguri. This represented a sustained wave of Boko Haram violence aimed at civilians participating in economic activities.
Cycle notes
Mirrored earlier Boko Haram attacks including the 08 January 2018 – Kaje village loggers’ massacre near Maiduguri, 15 January 2018 – Jinene village attack on firewood collectors involving killings and abductions, 13 December 2014 – Gumsuri attack targeting civilians engaged in rural livelihoods, 24 April 2016 – Alau village raid involving arson and civilian targeting, and 10 February 2017 – Mussa village attack involving destruction of rural economic activity, collectively reflecting a recurring pattern in which Boko Haram deliberately ambushes loggers and other rural workers—often operating under or near security escort—to disrupt subsistence economies, deter movement into forest zones, and sustain insecurity across forest-fringe communities near Dikwa and Maiduguri.
Pattern
Loggers Targeting
Related — Bombing/IED
Two female suicide bombers detonated at the University's Center for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development and the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme, killing only themselves
At approximately 9:00 p.m., an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated under a tree outside the Park & Shop mall, adjacent to Banex Plaza, in Wuse II District, Abuja. The blast, which witnesses reported was likely thrown from a moving vehicle, targeted AJ's Place at Sharif Plaza . A private security guard sustained injuries from shattered glass and was rushed to hospital for treatment . Anti-bomb squad operatives subsequently discovered and successfully detonated a second unexploded IED at the scene. NEMA spokesman Yushau Shuaib confirmed "no human casualty" , while FCT Police Commissioner Adenrele Shinaba assured residents that security forces were "equal to the task."
In a watershed moment for the insurgency, a suicide bomber drove a Mercedes-Benz laden with explosives into the parking lot of the Force Headquarters (Louis Edet House) in Abuja. The bomber attempted to trail the convoy of the then-Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim, into the secure premises. When intercepted by security in the car park, the device was detonated. This was the first documented suicide car bombing in Nigeria's history.