Gunmen killed at least 29 people in a brutal assault on a community in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa state on Sunday, attacking civilians who had gathered to watch football before burning homes, places of worship, and motorcycles. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a jihadist group that operates across the Lake Chad basin, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed at least 25 people and torched a church along with nearly 100 motorcycles. Adamawa's governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, confirmed the death toll and had initially attributed the assault to Boko Haram, the insurgent group from which ISWAP split.

The attack took place in Sangere Mapindi, a village in the Gombi Local Government Area near the border with Cameroon, around four kilometres from the community of Guyakyu. Witnesses described gunmen storming a football viewing gathering and opening fire indiscriminately, killing mostly young men, with at least one woman among the dead. Survivors said the attackers then pursued people fleeing into the village, burning houses, a church, a primary school, and dozens of motorcycles. The local church pastor recounted how assailants had followed panicked residents as they fled, calling on authorities to provide greater security. Governor Fintiri visited the scene, describing the attack as an "affront to our humanity" and pledging to intensify security operations. Many families have since abandoned their homes out of fear of further strikes.

Adamawa state sits in a restive corridor that has long been a battleground for jihadist violence, criminal gangs, and communal disputes over land and resources. The broader northeastern Nigerian insurgency began in 2009 when Boko Haram launched an uprising that has since killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million, according to aid organisations. ISWAP emerged as a splinter faction and has become a significant armed presence in the region; earlier this month, almost 400 people were sentenced in mass trials for alleged links to both groups.

The attack underscores why Nigeria's security crisis is drawing intensifying domestic and international attention. General elections are less than a year away, and the government faces mounting pressure to demonstrate it can protect civilians in the northeast. Authorities have pointed to international partnerships, including recent United States strikes against IS-linked militants in northwestern Nigeria, as part of their response. The violence has also spread beyond Nigeria's borders into Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, making it a regional challenge that no single government can easily address alone.