A professor with the Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB), Borno State, Abubakar Mohammed El-Jummah, has died in Boko Haram captivity nearly one year after he was abducted by terrorists along the Damaturu–Biu Road.
The late academic was reportedly kidnapped on March 2, 2025, while travelling along the notorious Damaturu–Biu highway, a route long plagued by insurgent attacks and abductions in Nigeria’s North-East region.
Family members confirmed his death in a statement released on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, expressing deep sorrow over the loss and the painful circumstances surrounding his final moments.
According to the family, Prof El-Jummah died in the early hours of Wednesday at about 2:45am, following a brief illness believed to have been triggered by the harsh conditions and prolonged hardship he endured during captivity.
They added that the deceased had since been buried in accordance with Islamic rites.
The family further announced that Salat al-Ghaib (funeral prayer in absentia) will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at the Ngomari Old Airport Juma’at Mosque, located behind his residence in Maiduguri, by 2pm, urging friends, colleagues and well-wishers to join in prayers for the late professor.
The media had last week reported that a yet-to-be-confirmed number of soldiers were killed by same Boko Haram jihadists from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād.
This was in an attack on a military base in Jakana, Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State.
Military sources had told SaharaReporters that the insurgents stormed the community, shooting in all directions before attacking the military facility with explosives on Friday morning.
The gunmen were said to have come in different groups and could not be counted. The sources added that many Nigerian soldiers were killed while others fled into the bush.
“An attack occurred this morning, 06/02/2025, at an Army outpost along Maiduguri/Damaturu Road, Jakana town, by Boko Haram terrorists, with many casualties recorded on our side. Their corpses have been transferred to 7 Division military hospital in Maiduguri,” a source had said.
During the attack, the gunmen had burnt armoured tanks and military vehicles and made away with unquantifiable ammunition, the source added.
This comes a few days after many soldiers were killed in an attack on another military base in Sabon Gari, Damboa Local Government Area of the state.
The Nigerian Army has repeatedly claimed that insurgency has been largely defeated and frequently underplays any losses.
The terror group has caused over 100,000 deaths and displaced millions of people mainly in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
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