The Izghe attack killed 106 civilians in a single night, illustrating Boko Haram's escalating campaign of mass violence against rural communities in northeastern Nigeria.
Key Facts
- Date
- February 15, 2014
- Total killed
- 106 people
- Male victims
- 105 men
- Female victims
- 1 elderly woman
- Location
- Izghe village, Borno State, Nigeria
- Suspected perpetrators
- Boko Haram
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Boko Haram carried out a sustained campaign of violence across northeastern Nigeria in February 2014, targeting Christian farming communities and civilian populations in Borno State. The group sought to deepen religious tensions between Christians and Muslims and destabilize the Nigerian state, potentially provoking civil conflict driven by religious extremism.
On the evening of February 15, 2014, armed gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram entered Izghe, a Christian farming village in Borno State. Moving door to door in search of male residents, the attackers killed 105 men and one elderly woman, totaling 106 civilians. At least one survivor escaped by scaling a fence and crawling to safety for approximately 40 minutes.
A repeat massacre occurred in Izghe village within days of the initial attack. The incident, which coincided with the Konduga massacre on the same date, drew international attention to the scale and frequency of Boko Haram's assaults on civilian targets in Nigeria's northeast during early 2014, underscoring the group's capacity for coordinated, large-scale violence.