Boko Haram terrorists have for the second time this year, again attacked Gwoza refugees after returning from the UN refugee camp in Cameroun where they have been for some years.
Thousands of Christian refugees from Gwoza Borno State were stuck in Cameroun for about 12 years following the cancellation by the U.S. government to airlift them despite approval to resettle in America.
About 97 of them had arrived America before the Trump administration halted the relocation of thousands more that were still at the Minawao camp in Cameroun.
However, some of the refugees returned to Nigeria some weeks ago after being lured by the Borno State government with an initial offer of N500,000, but became distressed when Boko Haram attacked Pulka recently.
However, a Nigerian human rights lawyer based in the United States, Emmanuel Ogebe, revealed that members of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists’ group have again attacked some of the refugees in Ngoshe, Borno State on Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, after the return of the refugees from Cameroun.
Ogebe said that eye witness account stated that all there is presently was catastrophe and devastation, a development that has forced mass exodus of people.
In the words of Ogebe; “A witness, who just went to see the route to Ngoshe, saw only catastrophe – mass exodus of people moving. No network for communication and the situation is worst.
“One of the elders was shot at the mouth – bullet pass through nose. Another elder was slaughtered, houses completely razed down, hospital destroyed including the primary and secondary school. They kidnapped others.
“I just spoke with (names withheld) regarding the situation, who said the Boko Haram terrorists have left, but tragedy has happened – countless lives lost, victims kidnapped, including soldiers captured alive, many people are still missing. Even the Pulka that people run to seek protection – network for communication has been cut off,” he stated.
Ogebe further said that a security report provided indicated a serious attack by the terrorists on Ngoshe town, Gwoza local government area about 18km from Pulka, Borno State.
It was also gathered that following the attack, residents of Ngoshe as a result of fear, left for Pulka in large number on Wednesday morning, just as residents who fled through mountainous routes said that there was house-to-house searches, killings, and burning of residential structures in Ngoshe as most of the houses are reported to have been destroyed.
As at the time of this report, the number of civilian fatalities is yet unknown, but feared to be high even as Pulka is reported to be currently experiencing heightened tension, driven by the influx of traumatized civilians & the visible presence of dislodged troops.
Ogebe said that based on available information, health facilities in Pulka are presently overstretched as medical personnel battle to treat wounded civilians and injured soldiers.
Ogebe lamented that he had petitioned the U.S. Congressional delegation to resettle 58,000 Gwoza refugees in Cameroun abroad and warned against their repatriation to Borno in December 2025.
Lawyer Ogebe’s petition reads: U.S. SHOULD URGENTLY ASSIST RESETTLEMENT OF NIGERIAN REFUGEES CURRENTLY IN CAMEROUN IN THIRD COUNTRIES
A priority humanitarian intervention recommended for urgent attention is the critical Gwoza refugee population in Cameroun.
While you were in Nigeria, the Borno government is trying to incentivize them back to an unsafe region after over a decade. Apparently, he just visited them in the same Camerounian Far North camp I visited in 2014. As you know, Gwoza is still occupied by terrorists so this is a set up for disaster.
They are now eligible for international resettlement in western host countries but Zulum’s action undermines their relocation abroad.
I urge the USG to prioritize these persecution refugees’ resettlement in your humanitarian response proposals.
While thousands self-repatriated from Cameroun, those who came back to Nigeria are suffering in camps outside Abuja as they can’t return to Gwoza. Please see a new report on the conditions of camps even in Abuja https://mikearnold.org/new-report-internally-displaced-persons-in-the-federal-capital-territory-abuja/
Our assessment indicates that some of the Nigerian refugees were resettled abroad from Cameroun:
– 97 in USA.
– 106 in CANADA
– 7 in ITALY schooling
– 125 in FRANCE
Unfortunately, while others are in the process of resettling in the US and other countries, an executive order has just been signed partially restricting Nigerian immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
That’s the point of making this high priority post-CODEL recommendation. It was already problematic that only white South Africans were eligible refugees and that the U.S. had capped the amount of refugees for 2026. This policy dissonance is apparent when the executive action directly contradicts its problem identification.
Since 1990, less than 2000 white farmers have been killed in South Africa.
In the last two years, 2000 Christian farmers were killed in Benue state alone in Nigeria. That’s 2000 in 35 years in one country compared to 2000 in just one of 36 states in another country in two years!”
Commenting on the yesterday’s attack, Ogebe says, “The US aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month, far above President Trump’s stated refugee-program cap of 7500 in 2026, a US contracting document said.
However, the Trump administration halted the airlift of persecuted Christian refugees who had been approved for resettlement after 12 years in a Cameroun UN camp. Unfortunately neither the new US House Nigeria.
Accountability Bill 7457 or the Riley committee presidential report and recommendations on the situation addressed the stranded refugees issue.
Trump stopped those Christian refugees awaiting airlift to America long before his recent visa ban on Nigerians.
A pregnant Christian refugee was killed in the Cameron camp days ago. Yet Trump is denying safety and refuge to the people he acknowledges are persecuted.
But it gets worse – the US is scamming Nigerian visa applicants who they have already banned by still accepting visa fees. The US is building its most expensive consulate at half a billion dollars in Lagos which is one of its most lucrative visa processing centers globally. Why not stop the money spinner if you’re not providing visas???
This is a new low for insecurity and racism. Islamic extremism rendered them refugees and white racism retained them as refugees. Borno government is paying refugees N500,000 each to come and be killed and they’re going because USG left them vulnerable.
I urge the USA to airlift them immediately and Borno, Cameroun and FGN to stop the death repatriations,” Ogebe stated.
