Top ISWAP leaders, 76 fighters surrender in North-East
By: Abudu Olalekan
Top ISWAP commanders and 76 foot soldiers—some with their families—have surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Nigeria’s North-East. It’s a big development. The kind the military says didn’t happen by chance.
The update was shared Sunday night by Captain Muhammad Goni, Acting Military Information Officer at the Headquarters Joint Task Force, North East, Operation Hadin Kai.
According to Goni, the fighters dropped their weapons and walked away from their hideouts after what he described as sustained, intense pressure from the military. Weeks of it. No breathing space.
In his words, Operation Hadin Kai has been recording “significant operational successes” in the counter-terror campaign against Boko Haram and ISWAP, driven by continuous operations and what he called “credible, timely and actionable intelligence.”
Then came the part that stood out: a “fresh group” of senior ISWAP leaders, he said, abandoned their enclaves and turned themselves in within the North-East theatre. Not low-level men. Key people inside the network.
Goni said those who surrendered are now being held in a secure location, going through profiling and debriefing, along with other procedures required under existing operational guidelines. Standard process, basically.
He added that in just the past week, 76 foot soldiers—plus some of their families—also surrendered to the troops. That number is not small.
The military believes the wave of surrenders shows the impact of its ongoing offensive, which it says is breaking up terrorist strongholds, disrupting their command structure and supply lines, and limiting their ability to move freely across the region. Step by step.
“Persistent military operations have continued to degrade the terrorists’ combat capabilities while eroding confidence within their ranks and leadership,” Goni said.
He also credited the progress to what he described as a broader, coordinated strategy—precision combat operations, intelligence-led engagements, and joint efforts with partners.
Operation Hadin Kai, he assured, isn’t slowing down. The mission, he said, is still to defeat terrorism completely and restore lasting peace in the North-East.
And the message to those still out there was direct: the pressure will continue—until they’re neutralised or they surrender. No pause. No soft landing.
Olalekan A. Abudu is a seasoned and dedicated News Journalist at REPORTERS ROOM, with over eight years of experience. He specializes in politics, climate change, health, and education, while also covering security, economic, and judicial issues. Committed to accuracy and balanced reporting, Olalekan exemplifies the principles of public-interest journalism.
