By Muhammadu Sabiu
Four prominent members of Jam’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihd, popularly known as Boko Haram, have turned themselves into Nigerian forces in Borno State.
Commanders Mala’ana (Khalid), a Governor, Abu Dauda (Munzir), Modu Yalee (Commander), and Bin Diska (Nakif) submitted to Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) soldiers on December 12, 2022, when they were patrolling the state’s Gwoza local government area.
This fresh intelligence reveals that the insurgents have emerged from the Sambisa forest where they had been hiding and are now waging terror attacks against the state, according to Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region.
They once served as leaders at the Njimiya camp under Abubakar Shekau.
Nevertheless, during the invasion of the Sambisa Forest in May 2021, they disarmed and joined ISWAP at Lake Chad, which finally led to Shekau’s demise.
The four Commanders later abandoned ISWAP and fled to Sambisa, where they established a camp and started acting independently.
They were forced to surrender out of fear of being wiped out on the battlefield by a combination of a protracted, increased bombardment on terrorist hideouts and rivalry strikes.
Meanwhile, 83,000 Boko Haram fighters had been captured and were being treated for rehabilitation in Borno State, according to Major General Christopher Musa, the OPHK Theatre Commander.
