Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
The four top Boko Haram commanders have surrendered to troops of the Nigerian Army in Gwoza Council, Borno state.
The surrendered commanders include Governor Mala’ana Khaid, Abu Dauda Munzir, Modu Yalee and Bin Diska.
They were hibernating in the Sambisa Forest for about a decade before surrendering to troops while patrolling the vulnerable communities.
A counter-insurgency expert, in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, yesterday (Sunday), in Maiduguri, disclosed: “The commanders laid down their arms on December 12, 2022 to troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), while they were patrolling to secure communities on the fringes of the forest.
According to him, the commanders had been hiding and waging campaigns of terror from the forest.
Besides, he added that they were former commanders of Abubakar Shekau at the Njimiya camp,
He said: “The Commanders however; laid down their arms and moved to join the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad region.
“The terror defection was after the invasion of Sambisa Forest in May 2021, which led to the death of Shekau, the former leader of Boko Haram.
“However, the commanders; about a year later; denounced ISWAP and fled to Sambisa, where they pitched their tents and continue to operate on their own.”
On what informed them to surrender, Makama, said: “They surrendered for fear of battle field elimination due to the sustained onslaughts on the terrorists’ hideouts,” as well as the rivalry attacks from ISWAP.
Also, Maj-Gen Christopher Musa, the theatre commander of OPHK, added that about 83, 000 Boko Haram terrorists and their families have surrendered to the Army.
He said they are currently undergoing rehabilitation at four camps with facilities.
Musa stated this on Friday, when he visited Governor Mai Mala Buni as part of the familiarization of the Command and formations in Borno and Yobe states.
He noted that the kinetic and non-kinetic military approaches led them to massively surrender to the Army.
The Commander described the counter-insurgency operations as a success, as about a million displaced persons in Borno state have returned to their respective communities.
Continued; “God has been very magnanimous for us. We have received a lot of surrendered individuals.
“We are moving about 83, 000 now. Out of this number, over 41, 000 are children.
“The terrorists are trying to develop 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.”
He warned that if children grow up and think; killing is natural, they become very dangerous.
According to him, the military and other security agencies will continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring terrorism in the region to an end.
Besides, he insisted that; “Whatever it takes, whatever it needs for us to have peace, we are determined to achieve that,” stating that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Farouk Yahaya has been supportive in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the Northeast.
