Nigeria’s counter-insurgency campaign suffered a devastating blow over the weekend following the abduction and killing of Brigadier General M. Uba, a frontline commander widely respected for his hands-on leadership in the fight against Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
General Uba was taken on Friday night after ISWAP fighters launched a deadly ambush along the Damboa–Biu corridor, less than an hour after he briefed senior commanders that he and his men were safe following intense confrontations in the area.
He was reportedly captured alongside two soldiers during the attack, which also claimed the lives of two troops and two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
Sources within the military said the incident unfolded shortly after a joint air-ground operation had successfully dislodged insurgent positions. General Uba, known for personally leading manoeuvres rather than relying solely on field reports, moved with his troops through a route later discovered to have been heavily booby-trapped. The convoy came under fire from multiple flanks as ISWAP militants took advantage of the difficult terrain and poor visibility.
Despite ordering a tactical withdrawal, the commander reportedly refused to pull back without ensuring his men’s safety. Air Force aircraft were called in to suppress enemy positions, allowing several soldiers and CJTF operatives to break out of the ambush. But amid the confusion, insurgents overpowered a section of the formation and seized the general.
As word spread within military circles that communication with the commander had been lost, troops began piecing together the few signals he managed to send while in captivity. According to multiple security sources, General Uba at one point shared his live location and, in another instance, made a brief video call to his dry cleaner — an act interpreted as an attempt to raise alarm without alerting his captors.
Units dispatched to the coordinates searched deep into surrounding bushes but found only a wounded soldier who had also been abducted and later abandoned. The general, authorities later concluded, had already been moved.
By Saturday morning, senior officers including Theatre Commander, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, arrived in Damboa to coordinate an expanded search effort. Hopes of locating the general alive dimmed as hours passed without further contact.
Military sources confirmed later that day that General Uba had been executed by ISWAP after a brief interrogation. His death marks one of the highest-profile losses for Nigeria’s armed forces in the northeast since the insurgency began over a decade ago.
Inside the 26 Task Force Brigade headquarters, where he had served as commander, soldiers struggled to absorb the news. Many spoke of a leader who visited trenches, patrolled with his men, and insisted on sharing both risks and hardships.
“He was not a distant commander. He led from the front,” a soldier said, his voice subdued. “We did everything we could to find him.”
The Army has appointed Brigadier General Mustapha as acting commander of the 26 Brigade as it recalibrates its strategy in southern Borno. However, the fallout from the ambush has underscored the persistent dangers faced by troops battling insurgents who remain deeply entrenched in the region’s forests and ridges.
General Uba’s killing is a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the conflict — one that has claimed countless civilians, community volunteers, and young soldiers, and now one of the country’s most revered field leaders.
For the military community, families in Borno, and a nation weary of war, his loss reverberates as both a tragedy and an urgent call for renewed resolve in restoring security to the northeast.
