Two women have been brutally executed by fighters of the Boko Haram faction loyal to Ali Ngulde in the Mandara Mountain region of Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, after being accused of practising shirk (idolatry).
According to sources who spoke with Zagazola Makama, the women were intercepted during a routine search conducted by the terrorists across settlements under their control. The insurgents claimed the women were found in possession of charms, locally referred to as layu, which they immediately interpreted as evidence of forbidden spiritual practices.
A video obtained by Zagazola shows the insurgents displaying the alleged charms and asserting that the items violated the group’s extremist doctrines. The women were then subjected to what the faction described as a “trial,” carried out through its crude and makeshift judicial system.
“They accused the two women of practising shirk after they found some charms on them. The terrorists took them to a secluded part of the mountains and executed them after the so-called trial,” one source said.
The source added that the execution was conducted in front of other fighters and civilians under the faction’s control, a tactic commonly used to intimidate communities and enforce strict adherence to their ideology.
Reports indicate that the Ali Ngulde faction has recently escalated its punitive actions, targeting not only those suspected of sorcery or possessing protective charms but also individuals accused of espionage or attempting to defect from the group. Several people have reportedly been killed in the past months under similar accusations as the faction tightens its grip on remote mountain settlements.
The latest incident highlights the continued brutality and arbitrary killings carried out by extremist groups in areas where government presence remains limited.
