Armed gunmen killed at least 29 people in Guyaku village in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa State on Sunday, in an assault that lasted several hours, left places of worship burned and property destroyed, and sent fresh shock through a region long battered by jihadist violence. The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), an affiliate of the Islamic State group, claimed responsibility for the attack via the Telegram messaging app, saying it had killed at least 25 Christians and torched a church and nearly 100 motorcycles. Adamawa State, which borders Cameroon, has for years been a hotspot for violence by jihadist groups and criminal gangs, as well as communal clashes over land.

Local residents described a harrowing scene at a football pitch in the Guyaku community where young people, including women who had gathered to watch a match, were shot at indiscriminately. "Our people converged at a football pitch in Guyaku community and were attacked by insurgents who entered with guns and began shooting randomly," one resident told Agence France-Presse. Attackers also burned churches, houses and motorcycles before withdrawing. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri visited the community on Monday, calling the attack "tragic and unacceptable" and pledging that it "will not go unpunished." He announced intensified security operations and said his administration would continue to support military and vigilante forces in the region. While the governor initially attributed the assault to Boko Haram — the jihadist movement that has driven insurgency in northeastern Nigeria since 2009 — the formal claim of responsibility came from ISWAP, a splinter group that has grown increasingly active in the area.

The attack in Guyaku was not the only act of violence in Nigeria on Sunday. A separate incident in the Lamurde area, more than 100 kilometres away, also left lives and property lost, reportedly linked to farmland disputes. On the same day, gunmen raided an unregistered orphanage and school in Kogi State, in north-central Nigeria, abducting 23 children and the wife of the school's proprietor. Security forces subsequently rescued 15 of the children, with intensive operations ongoing to free the remaining eight.

The violence underscores the breadth and complexity of Nigeria's security crisis. Since 2009, the jihadist insurgency led by Boko Haram and ISWAP has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions across the country's northeast, with the conflict spilling into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Mass kidnappings, meanwhile, have become a widespread tactic for armed groups seeking ransom, particularly in rural areas with limited government presence. The United States has weighed in on Nigeria's security situation, deploying 100 soldiers in February to train and advise local forces following air raids on ISWAP-affiliated fighters in December. Nigeria's government has pushed back against characterisations of the violence as a targeted campaign against Christians, pointing to data showing that people of all faiths — including Muslims and traditional worshippers — have been victims of attacks.