Boko Haram Turns the Road Home Into a Death Trap: 4 Christians Killed, 24 Maimed by Roadside Bombs in Gwoza

Boko Haram Plants Roadside Bombs to Kill Christian Displaced Persons Returning to Gwoza, Borno State

Thousands of displaced Christians who fled Boko Haram's deadly rampage through Gwoza, Borno State in early March 2026 are now being targeted by the very same terrorists as they attempt to return home. Improvised explosive devices planted along the Ngoshe to Pulka road have killed four people and injured 24 others, turning the road home into a killing field.

Approximately 12,402 individuals from 2,067 households fled the Christian stronghold of Gwoza on March 3 after Boko Haram launched coordinated attacks across the region. They sought temporary shelter in the more secure town of Pulka. Now, a month later, the terrorists have rigged the return routes with roadside bombs designed to maximize civilian casualties.

On April 5, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the 82 Division Task Force Battalion discovered and neutralized an IED along the Ngoshe to Pulka Main Supply Route during a routine clearance operation. Military sources confirmed that clearance operations along key supply routes remain ongoing as part of efforts to deny terrorists freedom of action.

The casualty figure could be more than what has been reported. Many of those injured have lost hands and legs. Those who survived have been rushed to the hospital.

A native of Ngoshe shared the devastating toll on his community. Ngoshe and its surroundings had been deserted since 2014 when Boko Haram seized the town, forcing 80,000 people to flee to neighboring Cameroon as refugees. Roughly 3,000 of those who fled returned last year to rebuild their lives, only to face renewed terror.

The attack has swelled the number of displaced people in Gwoza, where more than 120,000 residents are now living in makeshift camps or scattered across remote villages with little access to food or medical care. A human rights lawyer warned that inducing refugees back to Gwoza, where Boko Haram declared its caliphate in 2014, was "a setup for disaster."

According to the Intersociety organization, 1,402 Nigerians were killed or abducted by terrorists in just 96 days between January 1 and April 6, 2026, with 450 killed and 600 abducted within the period. Borno State remains the epicenter of this violence.

Christian Families Bombed on the Road Back to Gwoza After Fleeing Boko Haram Terror

The Borno State government has been pushing to close IDP camps and resettle displaced persons to their ancestral homes. In January 2026, the first batch of 300 refugees from Cameroon returned to Gwoza in what officials called a landmark homecoming. Weeks later, Boko Haram launched devastating attacks on the very communities those returnees were sent back to.

The Pulka to Ngoshe corridor has long been notorious for buried mines and ambushes. It has become a corridor where terrorists deliberately target civilians attempting to resettle. This pattern reveals Boko Haram's strategy of disrupting returnees to regain control of areas once considered secure.

The Crusader's Opinion

Let us be perfectly clear about what is happening in Gwoza. A government tells displaced Christians it is safe to go home. They pack their meager belongings, pray for protection, and walk back down roads they once fled in terror. And Boko Haram is waiting for them with bombs buried in the dirt. Four dead. Twenty four maimed. This is not a "security challenge." This is a slaughter of innocents orchestrated by jihadist terrorists who declared a caliphate on that very ground. Where is the global outrage? Where are the candlelight vigils? If Christians were planting bombs on roads used by Muslim refugees anywhere on earth, every Western capital would be in flames with protest. But when it is Christians being blown apart in Nigeria, the world offers nothing but silence. That silence is complicity.

Take Action

• Donate to The Shepherd's Shield to support persecuted Christians in Nigeria and across Africa.
• Support Open Doors USA, which monitors and assists persecuted Christians in over 70 countries including Nigeria.
• Give to Voice of the Martyrs, providing emergency aid to Nigerian Christians displaced by Boko Haram violence.
• Contact Christian Solidarity International, which has been documenting the Gwoza crisis and advocating for displaced Nigerian Christians.
• Write to your elected representatives and demand they pressure the Nigerian government to protect Christian communities in Borno State before resettling them in active war zones.
• Share this story on social media. The mainstream media will not cover it. You must be the voice for Gwoza's Christians.