Top ISWAP Leaders Surrender as Military Pressure Forces More Terrorists to Abandon Camps
By: Zagazola Makama
Sustained offensive operations by troops of the Joint Task Force (North East), Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), have continued to yield significant results, with a fresh group of senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders surrendering to the military amid intensified counter-terrorism operations across the North-East.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the latest surrender involved key figures within the terrorist network who abandoned their enclaves following weeks of sustained military offensives, precision strikes and intelligence-driven operations that have continued to degrade the group’s operational capabilities.
The sources said the surrendered commanders are currently being held at a secure military facility, where they are undergoing profiling, intelligence debriefing and other procedures in line with established operational protocols.
Although security authorities have not disclosed the identities of the surrendered commanders for operational reasons, their defection is regarded as another major setback for ISWAP’s leadership structure and a reflection of the increasing pressure being mounted by troops across the theatre.
Military sources attributed the development to the relentless tempo of Operation HADIN KAI, which has intensified coordinated land and air operations targeting terrorist enclaves, logistics bases, supply routes and command centres across Borno and other parts of the North-East.
According to the sources, the sustained campaign has significantly reduced the terrorists’ freedom of movement, disrupted their logistics chain and weakened their ability to organise large-scale attacks, forcing many fighters and commanders to reconsider their continued participation in the insurgency.
The latest surrender comes barely days after scores of terrorists laid down their arms in different locations within the theatre. Within the past week alone, military records indicate that no fewer than 76 terrorist fighters, alongside some of their family members, voluntarily surrendered to troops operating under Operation HADIN KAI.
Security analysts believe the increasing number of surrenders is linked to the cumulative effects of sustained military pressure, worsening living conditions within terrorist camps, dwindling supplies and growing internal distrust among insurgent ranks.
Recent intelligence has also pointed to increasing divisions within ISWAP’s leadership, with disagreements over operational decisions, dwindling resources and command authority contributing to declining morale among fighters.
Military authorities maintain that the current operational strategy, which combines precision combat operations, intelligence-led targeting, air interdiction missions and close collaboration among security and intelligence agencies, is steadily reducing the operational space available to terrorist groups across the North-East.
The latest development is expected to provide valuable intelligence that could support ongoing operations, as surrendered commanders may possess critical information on the group’s leadership structure, logistics network, recruitment channels, planned attacks and locations of remaining enclaves.
Operation HADIN KAI has reiterated its commitment to sustaining the current operational momentum until all terrorist elements are either neutralised or compelled to surrender, stressing that ongoing offensives will continue across all identified hideouts in the North-East.
Military sources said troops remain focused on consolidating recent gains while intensifying pressure on the remaining insurgent elements to further degrade their capabilities and restore lasting peace and security across the region.
