Situation report: Sambisa Forest
Named danger area.
| Level Extreme |
Coordinates 11°18′00″N 13°24′00″E 11.3000, 13.4000 radius ≈ 45 km |
Covers 1 LGA |
Report date 2026-09-28 |
Former Boko Haram stronghold and still a sanctuary for JAS remnants; the base area of the 2014 Chibok captivity.
Map: LGAs shaded by twelve-month ACLED intensity (2025-10 to 2026-09); black outline = this named danger area; dashed = state lines; squares = military installations (town level).
Conflict intensity, last twelve months (ACLED)
| Political-violence events | 185 |
| Deaths in those events | 974 |
| Attacks on civilians | 27 |
| Civilians killed | 124 |
| LGAs at extreme | 1 |
| LGAs at high | 0 |
| LGAs at elevated | 0 |
Where it concentrates
| LGA | Level | Civ. killed | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwoza | Extreme | 124 | rising |
How it developed
Archive record
448 incidents in the Dustline archive fall here, with 8,865 deaths recorded.
| Date | Place | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-10 | Gwoza, Borno | 82 Div Task Force Battalion rescues mother and daughter after escaping Mandara Mountains terrorist camp |
| 2026-09-08 | Bama, Borno | Troops of Operation Hadin Kai foil terrorist ambush and dismantle insurgent camps in Borno |
| 2026-08-30 | Gwoza, Borno | Troops intercept and neutralize female suicide bomber before reaching Pulka market in Gwoza |
| 2026-03-30 | Bama, Borno | Troops counter ISWAP roadside IED ambush near Banki junction in Bama |
| 2026-03-03 | Gwoza, Borno | ISWAP-JAS attack overruns Ngoshe, killing over 100 and abducting hundreds |
| 2026-02-16 | Gwoza, Borno | Troops kill Boko Haram commander, recover 37 million naira in Pulka counter-operation |
| 2025-11-20 | Borno | ISWAP overruns CJTF position at Warabe |
| 2025-09-05 | Bama, Borno | Boko Haram fighters kill at least 63 in Darajama, Bama |
| 2023-06-21 | Bama, Borno | Nigerian security forces (against Boko Haram) — Amchille, Bama, Borno (2023-06-21) |
| 2023-06-11 | Gwoza, Borno | Nigerian security forces (against Boko Haram) — Grazah and Wa-Jahoda, Gwoza, Borno (2023-06-11) |
Military installations within 150 km
| Theatre Command, Operation Hadin Kai | Maiduguri | 65 km |
| 7 Division | Maiduguri | 68 km |
| NAF Base Maiduguri | Maiduguri | 71 km |
Advisories and named areas
US travel advisory: Borno State — Terrorism and kidnapping (Level 4, do not travel).
Named danger areas: Gwoza hills and Mandara Mountains
Limits
- ACLED counts recorded events. Rural violence is under-reported everywhere, and more so where journalists cannot go.
- Levels summarise twelve months; a road can change within days. Current advisories and local security briefings outrank this report.
- Approximate extent drawn as a circle around a well-known location. It marks where danger is concentrated, not a line inside which it begins; the areas around it are not implied to be safe.
Sources: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), www.acleddata.com — aggregates via HDX, as of 25 September 2026. Boundaries: OCHA COD-AB Nigeria (CC BY-IGO). Map base: Natural Earth (public domain), naturalearthdata.com; state boundaries OCHA COD-AB Nigeria (CC BY-IGO). Archive: Dustline snapshot of dustlinemap.online, 22 September 2026. Advisory: US Department of State.