Four top Commanders of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād Boko Haram terrorists group have surrendered to the Nigerian Army in Borno State.
The development was confirmed from intelligence sources by a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama.
Naturenex gathered that the terrorists identified as Mala’ana (Khaid), titled a Governor, Abu Dauda (Munzir), Modu Yalee (Commander), and Bin Diska (Nakif) surrendered on Tuesday to troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) patrolling Gwoza local government area of the State.
According to sources, the terrorists came out from the Sambisa forest where they had been hiding and planning their attacks.
The sources noted that the insurgents were former Commanders of Abubakar Shekau at Njimiya camp.
They had laid down their arms and moved to join ISWAP in Lake Chad after the invasion of Sambisa Forest in May 2021, which led to the death of Shekau.
However, the four Commanders later denounced ISWAP and fled to Sambisa where they pitched their tent and operated on their own.
The Boko Haram commanders, however, surrendered over the fear of being eliminated due to recent attacks on their camps by the military as well as rivalry attacks.
Meanwhile, the Theatre Commander of ‘Operation Hadin Kai’ (OPHK), Maj-Gen Christopher Musa, has said about 83,000 Boko Haram members have so far surrendered and are currently undergoing rehabilitation at various facilities in Borno State.
Musa while addressing the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni on Friday as part of a tour of command and formations under his control, said the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches led them to the massive surrenders.
The theatre commander who described the operations of the command as a success said over half of the 83,000 were children who if they had not surrendered could be fighters too.
He said, “God has been very magnanimous to us, we have received a lot of surrendered individuals. We are moving almost 83,000 now, out of that number, over 41,000 are children.
“The terrorists are trying to develop a new set of terrorists, their own children and that would have been very dangerous because you know normally for children when they grow up and whatever they see is what they copy.
“So, if they grow and think killing is natural, they become very dangerous.”
The theatre commander, who commended the Chief of Army Staff for his support, said that the military and other security agencies will continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring terrorism in the region to a speedy end.
He added, “Whatever it takes, whatever it needs for us to have peace, we are determined to achieve that. The Chief of Army Staff has been very, very supportive in all we are doing and that has made our work much, much easier.”
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
