A member of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau), has claimed that over the years, Boko Haram insurgents carted away arms worth trillions of naira in their attacks on military formations in the North East.

He stated this in his contribution on Tuesday to a motion by Ahmed Satomi (Borno) on the fire incident at the 127 Battalion armoury in Giwa Barracks and the increasing wave of insurgent attacks on military bases in Borno and Yobe States.

Gagdi said the scale of destruction and looting of military assets by insurgents was unprecedented, warning that the continued failure of government to act could spark public backlash against elected officials.

?The heaviness of the content of this motion will be better appreciated, if we are privileged to see the pictures of what Boko Haram did to Giwa Barracks and other attacks within military formations in Borno State. Mr. Speaker, the pictures I saw, I am scared. I am scared whether the safety of the Nigerian civilians within the Nigerian territorial land can be guaranteed,? he said.

He noted that the National Assembly had budgeted money for arms and ammunition; tanks numbering more than 40, including other platforms, worth trillions of naira for the Nigerian military, aimed at safeguarding our people.

?How can we guarantee the safety of the Nigerian people in the circumstance that the platforms that are meant to protect these people have been taken away by the enemies of the people? Mr. Speaker, we have been doing our best under your leadership.

?The National Assembly has been speaking on issues of insecurity. But Mr. Speaker, actions by departments of government must be taken. Mr. President must hold Nigerian military strategic commandants and other security agencies accountable for negligence of their responsibility.

?Mr. Speaker, the everyday resolutions we pass are not enough. We must summon agencies of the government to publicly account for their responsibilities and failures,? he said.

Gagdi further warned that the widening insecurity and perceived government indifference could erode public trust in democratic institutions, posing a direct threat to lawmakers and political leaders across the country.

?We are moving to a level where Nigerians will fight us the way they fight criminals and Boko Haram,? he said. ?If action is not taken, Nigerians will take their destinies into their own hands.?

He also alleged the tendency by federal officials to downplay warnings from state governors, saying such dismissals undermine the authority of chief security officers at the state level.

?While people are being killed, some sit in the comfort of their offices and say the governor is raising unnecessary alarm. This is unacceptable.?

Gagdi called on President Bola Tinubu to hold strategic military commanders and security chiefs accountable for negligence and operational lapses, stressing that ?government must do the needful.?

The motion, which followed a series of recent attacks in Borno and other parts of the country, was adopted by the House, with lawmakers resolving to summon relevant security agencies for further briefing.

Earlier in his lead debate, Satomi had caused for an investigation into the fire incident at the Nigerian military armoury in Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri.

He described the incident and the escalating attacks on military formations in Borno and Yobe States as a grave threat to national security and public safety.

He noted that several military installations had come under heavy assault, resulting in the loss of lives among soldiers and civilians.

?The bravery and sacrifice of our military personnel are being tested by these relentless assaults,? the motion stated, adding that surrounding civilian communities remain exposed to extreme danger.

Rep. Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno), in his contribution to the motion, said Boko Haram was staging a dangerous comeback, now using sophisticated, weaponised drones to launch attacks.

He said several civilians and military personnel, including a captain and senior officer, were recently killed in his constituency.

?In Chibok, 14 peasant farmers were slaughtered. In Izge, we lost two soldiers. Boko Haram is now more advanced than the Nigerian army in terms of equipment,? he stated.

He said: ?I am talking as a victim of the recent resurgence of Boko Haram. I went to my constituency on Saturday to sympathise, to condole with the people that lost their lives as a result of this sporadic, uninterrupted attack.

?I observe one thing. Boko Haram is first coming back worse than what we had in the past. Take it or leave it. In part of my constituency, 10 peasant farmers were slaughtered by Boko Haram members and five are still at large and three are critically ill in the hospital. In Chibok, 14 peasant farmers were attacked in their community.

?In less than a blink of an eye, they reduced 14 people to nothing. In Izge, I lost two military men, a captain and a senior officer as a result of the Boko Haram insurgents.

?I lost so many constituents. We lost so many constituents because Boko Haram is using armed drones.

?This will be on record. They are using armed drones, weaponised drones, which the Nigerian army is not using. In other words, they are more sophisticated and advanced than the Nigerian army.

?So, as I am speaking to you, there are not enough Nigeria army personnel. They don?t have enough personnel to face these boys; that is the truth. They are committed, they are very strong in their own stand, but unfortunately they don?t have enough personnel and equipment to face the Boko Haram. I have seen it. Nobody reported it to me because I went to my constituency on Saturday and came back on Sunday?.

Rep. Zainab Gimba (APC, Borno) corroborated the worsening situation, saying that attacks on communities at Kala Balge and surrounding areas had been intensified, leaving civilians and military formations vulnerable.

She said, ?In my own constituency, Mr. Speaker, there has been a Boko Haram attack on military formations of the multinational joint task force, where more than 20 soldiers were killed?.

Another lawmaker, Rep. Lawan Shettima Ali (APC, Yobe), alleged a foreign link to the insurgency, saying the firepower and technological edge of Boko Haram suggested external support.

In an interview with Daily Trust last night, the military high command challenged the House of Representative member to prove the authenticity of his claims to the world.

The Director of the Defence Media Operations, Major-General Markus Kangye, wondered why such claim without a proof was made by the lawmaker.

?I don?t know where he got his figures from. I have listened to him. I saw what you are talking about, that is why I am telling you that I don?t know where he got his figures from.

?I don?t know where he got his statistics from. If he can come and prove to you that these are the statistics, and come with a proof, then, we (Nigerians) can take it, but I don?t know where he got his statistics from.

?If he has his figures that he got from anywhere, then he should come and prove it,? Kangye stated.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday on the telephone, a security expert and former director at the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, called on the military authorities to fortify all the formations.

Ejiofor, who is also the president of the Alumni Association of the National Institute of Security Studies Nigeria (AANISS), described the carting away of military weapons by terrorists as very dangerous.

?If they attack military formations and cart away their arms, it is very dangerous because what that means is that the criminals now have more arms in their possession.

?I think we should fortify our military formations to avoid such occurrence or to prevent such attacks in future,? the security expert stated.

Some recent attacks on military formations

On May 7, 2025, an army captain and a soldier were reportedly killed by the Boko Haram terrorists during a midnight attack on Izge community in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Emir of Gwoza, Mohammed Shehu Timta, who confirmed the incident to Daily Trust at that time, said the terrorists infiltrated the farming community and attacked the military location.

?They were shooting sporadically before the personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces, with the assistance of Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes repelled the terrorists but, sadly, we lost a captain and a soldier,? he said.

On May 3, 2025, four soldiers were reportedly killed and weapons carted away when insurgents attacked 27 Taskforce Brigade Buni Gari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.

A military source, who survived the attack, had told Daily Trust that the base was completely overrun, weapons looted from the armory with several operational vehicles and other critical equipment destroyed.

?We were taken off guard by the heavy explosion and gunfire, but we stood our ground.

?Yes, we lost four of our men, just as they also suffered casualties. A lot of our fighting equipment was destroyed during the encounter.? he said.

On March 24, 2025, Boko Haram fighters attacked Wulgo military formation in Borno State, killed at least 20 Cameroonian troops, carted away weapons and burnt down the base.

Security and civilian sources that were assisting the military in the counter insurgency operations said the insurgents disguised as herders to launch the coordinated attack.

?They struck the base around 1am and engaged troops for almost 3 hours before they subdued the gallant fighters. They burnt down the base and took way several weapons.

?Among the cache seized by the terrorists were the Soviet-made Shilka guns ? lightly armoured, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapons, rifles and ammunitions,? he added

Neither the Nigerian military nor the Cameroonian authority provided any details of the weapons carted away or destroyed during the attack.

On March 25, 2025, Boko Haram terrorists attacked military location in Wajiroko near Sabon-Gari in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, killing at least four soldiers and unspecified numbers wounded in actions.

The insurgents, who dislodged the troops, also looted fighting equipment from the military base.

Also on March 25, Boko Haram terrorists attacked and dislodged troops under 120 Taskforce Battalion in Goneri, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.

According to security sources, patrol vehicles, Rocket Propelled Granite, General purpose machine guns, motorcycles and critical equipment were carted away, and armour tanks and buildings in the base destroyed by attackers. (Daily Trust)

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