Militants killed an army general and several soldiers during an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria, officials said.
Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah was the second senior officer killed in five months as violence intensifies across northern Nigeria.
At least 90 people have been killed by armed gunmen in remote villages since Sunday, according to local sources and reports.
Africa’s most populous country has battled an insurgency for seventeen years since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising began across the northeast region.
Four sources including the military confirmed an overnight attack on a base in Benisheikh, about 75 kilometres from Maiduguri city.
Unidentified militants overran the base and torched vehicles during the assault, according to witnesses and security sources speaking to AFP.
President Bola Tinubu paid tribute to fallen soldiers in a statement naming Brigadier General Braimah among those killed in service.
Braimah’s death follows the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba by the ISWAP group in November during earlier clashes.
The Nigerian military said attackers tried to breach the defensive perimeter but were repelled after a fierce overnight confrontation at the base.
Researchers say violence has risen since last year, with Maiduguri seeing suicide bombings reminiscent of earlier peaks in the conflict.
The US State Department said non-emergency personnel may leave Abuja due to a deteriorating security situation in the country.
Violence is also spreading westward as militants and bandits raid villages, displacing thousands and deepening insecurity across wider regions.
