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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The military has uncovered the identities of senior commanders of ISIS and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operating around the Lake Chad region in northern Borno State, following the exploitation of intelligence recovered during a recent offensive operation.
The acting Military Information Officer, Headquarters Joint Task Force (North East), Operation Hadin Kai, Capt. Mohammed Goni, disclosed this in a statement issued in Maiduguri yesterday.
According to him, the terrorist leaders were identified after troops recovered several technical devices and other high-value intelligence materials during an operation against ISWAP fighters on the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno State.
Among the recovered items, he said, was a camcorder allegedly used by ISWAP members to record propaganda videos and document their operational activities.
Goni explained that forensic exploitation of the recovered devices yielded actionable intelligence that enabled troops to identify terrorist locations as well as several senior ISWAP commanders operating within the Mangari–Metele–Dogon Chukun axis along the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin in Abadam and Kukawa Local Government Areas of Borno State.
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He identified the key terrorist figures as Abu Musa Al-Mangawi Baa Shuwa, described as the Wali (Governor) of ISIS West Africa Province; his deputy, Amirul Jaish Muhammad Jidda, popularly known as “The One-Handed Man”; and Hamad Abu Hanifa, identified as the Amirul-Fiya of ISWAP.
The military noted that Abu Musa Al-Mangawi Baa Shuwa remains the most wanted ISWAP leader operating within the Lake Chad Basin.
It therefore announced a monetary reward for anyone with credible and actionable information leading directly to his arrest.
“All information received will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, and the identity of informants will be fully protected in accordance with established security procedures,” the statement assured.
The military recalled that on May 16, a joint Nigeria-United States airstrike eliminated a top ISWAP commander, Abu-Bilial al-Minuki, in Metele, along the Lake Chad shoreline.
It added that the latest intelligence breakthrough reinforces earlier concerns expressed by the Forum of Governors of the Lake Chad Basin, comprising Borno and Yobe states in Nigeria, as well as Niger and Chad. At its meeting in early 2024, the forum warned that the agriculturally rich Lake Chad region was increasingly becoming a stronghold for ISIS-linked terrorist groups.
