Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Buratai’s Convoy Attacked in Borno State
A newsblog on X claimed that Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd), a former chief of army staff, narrowly escaped death after his convoy came under heavy gunfire in Borno State. This claim was posted on June 9, 2025, it has the caption ”BREAKING: Nigeria Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd), narrowly escaped death on Friday after his convoy came under a heavy gunfire attack in Borno State.”
At the time of this publication, the post had reached over 650,000 people, with 13,500 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. In the comment section, @POTFRNG said “They wanna take him out, was it not last week he said something about the bandits etc?” while @osoriaasibor wrote “That was how Bade was unalived. These generals are the most wicked people in Nigeria. It was Buratai that renamed boko haram as bandits. That was how they were able to spread outside the North East without pressure from the military. Buratai is not worthy of life. He wants to join politics, but the present military seniors will knack him. The blood on his hands is too much.”
Similar claims can be found here, here, here and here.
VERIFICATION
During the Politics Today episode aired on Sunday, June 8, 2025, Senator Ali Ndume reported that “Buratai was attacked at the front operations base in Borno”, citing an incident that took place last Friday (June 6). According to Ndume, “Some soldiers responded gallantly, but the insurgents managed to destroy several military assets,” including MRAP vehicles, tanks, and machine guns.
Following widespread confusion in reports suggesting it was the convoy of former Chief Of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai that was attacked, Ndume issued a statement on Monday, June 9, 2025, clarifying that he had referred to Buratai town in Biu LGA, not the person. He emphasized, “it was Buratai town in Borno State that was attacked, not the person of the erstwhile Chief of Army Staff”.
Retired Lt‑Gen Buratai, through his spokesman, dismissed the allegation as “mischievous and utterly false.” He confirmed the former chief of army staff was in Abuja during the Eid celebrations and was not attacked.
N-VA verified that there was indeed an insurgent attack near Buratai town in Borno state, where Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai hails from (around June 6), which resulted in damaged military assets including several military vehicles such as MRAPs and tanks.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Nigeria’s former chief of army staff, narrowly escaped death after his convoy came under a heavy gunfire attack in Borno State is MISLEADING. Findings reveal that there was an insurgent attack last Friday on Buratai town, a known hotspot in Borno state, resulting in military material losses, not the person of former chief of army staff, Lt‑Gen Buratai.
