Troops Destroy ISWAP Detention Camps In Borno, Free Over 70 Captives
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
Troops from Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) achieved a major breakthrough, capturing and demolishing three notorious ISWAP terrorist detention facilities hidden deep in the Timbuktu Triangle forest spanning Borno and Yobe states.
According to OPHK’s Media Information Officer, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, who disclosed this on Tuesday, the intelligence-led raids under Operation Desert Sanity V, were conducted from Jan. 21 to date, and pushed into long-inaccessible areas of Gujba LGA, forcing terrorists to abandon the sites.
Each facility could hold up to 300 detainees, central to ISWAP’s coercive operations and ransom schemes. Over 70 captives escaped amid the clashes, later surfacing in villages like Goniri, Buratai, and Mandaragirau.
One escapee, Malam Jidda Ba Jidda from Kufi village near Buratai, who was abducted on 22 December, 2025, said he fled during intense gun battles between troops and terrorists.
Uba confirmed that SWAP suffered heavy losses, with jo fewer than 32 fighters killed, including two Qaids and three Munzirs, with others wounded. Troops cleared the area and razed the camps, denying the group reuse.
The strikes degrade ISWAP’s enforcement, funding, and local control, while freed captives may yield vital intelligence. Theatre security remains calm but fluid, with high troop morale, Uba said.
