No fewer than eleven Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province fighters have surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai, even as eight others were gunned down in coordinated military offensives across Borno State.
The military also arrested two alleged logistics collaborators and seized weapons, vehicles and explosive-making materials in a series of operations conducted between January 9 and 10.
The development was confirmed on Sunday in a statement by the Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, Lt. Col. Sani Uba.
According to Uba, sustained pressure from troops under Operation Desert Sanity V compelled the insurgents to lay down their arms along the Azir–Wajiroko axis.
“Eleven terrorist fighters surrendered along with AK-47 rifles and assorted ammunition,” the statement read.
He added that troops on January 9 launched clearance operations around the Bulaagalda cluster, destroying multiple active enclaves at Dagumba, Bonne, Yaganari, Gosuri and Umchile, including camps linked to notorious commanders Abu Nazir and Abu Ahmed.
“During the raids, soldiers dismantled key life-support facilities, destroyed logistics stockpiles and recovered weapons, magazines and terrorist flags,” Uba stated.
Further operations in Yale and Bula Gaida reportedly forced more fighters to abandon their hideouts as troops torched supply hubs and recovered additional arms, including a general-purpose machine gun.
In another encounter driven by intelligence between Sojiri and Kayamla villages, troops engaged ISWAP elements, killing eight fighters and recovering rifles.
“Two suspected terrorist logistics suppliers were also nabbed in Gubio Local Government Area,” the statement added.
Uba reaffirmed the military’s commitment to sustaining pressure to restore normalcy to the region.
This comes weeks after troops manning the Nigeria–Cameroon border intercepted a Peugeot vehicle carrying six bags of urea fertiliser, a material frequently used in improvised explosive devices.
Further investigation led to the arrest of the suspected dealer and recovery of an additional six bags, bringing the total seized to twelve.