Footage recorded for TikTok by a single Nigerian Soldier shows a group of Nigerian pinned down and taking cover from nearby ISWAP fighters. This entire conflict is being documented almost entirely on TikTok.

For those of you who don't follow every small brushfire conflict happening around the world, let me break this down shotgun style for you. ISWAP is the Islamic State's arm in West Africa. They've been trying to gain a foothold there for sometime so that they can stand up operations and once again attempt to start their own independent terror state. Africa isn't having that though, and least of all are the Nigerians who are throwing every resource at their disposal at ISWAP to ensure they aren't able to establish said foothold in Nigeria.

If you want to see this conflict unfolding in real-time however, there's really only one unfortunate place that you can find it. You have to dig deep into the TikTok algorithm and get yourself aligned with Nigerian Soldiers who are documenting the entire conflict solely for their own TikTok channels.

I have no idea how or why this is a thing, but it is. You can find some truly gnarly combat footage if you travel down the Nigerian-ISWAP rabbit hole on TikTok. If you find any that you think is worth sharing, please let us know. You can reach out to us via email, or use the submission form directly.