A group of ISWAP fighters on motorcycles and other vehicles stormed the herding village. The attackers shot fleeing residents, ran others over with their vehicles, and set homes ablaze with civilians still inside. They killed at least 81 people, injured 13 others, abducted seven people, and stole over 1,200 cattle while killing 300 more. An Air Force fighter jet fired shots at the insurgents as they fled, but the attackers returned the following morning, killed a herdsman who had escaped, and set fire to the village.
9 Jun 2020 · Goni Usmanti (Felo), Gubio, Borno
Deaths
81
Injured
13
Kidnapped
7
Total casualties
94
Perpetrators
ISWAP
Response
President Muhammadu Buhari expressed "deep shock" and charged the armed forces "to sustain their recent string of successes against the terrorists to extract a heavy price from the attackers"
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Large-scale cattle rustling to generate revenue, feed fighters, and weaken herder livelihoods in the Lake Chad basin amid ongoing resource scarcity.
Trajectory
By mid-2020, ISWAP had intensified resource-focused raids in remote herding areas of Borno as a low-cost way to sustain operations and fund the insurgency after territorial losses.
Cycle notes
Mirrored earlier insurgent attacks including 28 May 2018 – Pumbum cattle rustling attack targeting herders and livestock, 04 February 2018 – Alau-Kofa raid involving killings, arson, and attempted cattle theft, 14 December 2019 – Fuhe attack combining deception, mass killing of herders, and livestock seizure, 24 August 2019 – Gajiram raid involving looting, abductions, and destruction of property, and 27 July 2019 – Badu Kuluwu massacre targeting civilians in reprisal and resource control, collectively reflecting a recurring pattern in which Islamic State West Africa Province conducts large-scale, multi-objective raids on rural communities—simultaneously killing civilians, destroying settlements, abducting residents, and seizing livestock—to sustain its war economy, assert territorial dominance, and systematically dismantle local livelihoods across northern Borno.
Pattern
Cattle Rustling
Related — Armed Attack
Boko Haram gunmen targeted a bakery in the Polo area of Maiduguri, where five labourers were shot dead. Additional attacks in the city included the fatal shooting of a customs officer at Gamboru market and a water vendor in another district.
Gunmen attacked Agber community in Katsina-Ala LGA, Benue State, injuring two residents.
Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), attacked the town of Goniri in Yobe State. According to an ISWAP statement, the attack lasted for about three hours. The group mocked the Nigerian army, claiming that soldiers refused to leave their base to defend the town. During the operation, they burnt several houses and cars in the community. The militants also claimed to have captured two operational vehicles and ammunition from the local vigilante group.