Other MoA event in Nigeria on Tue 28th July 2026

Three suspected ISWAP fighters surrender to troops in Damasak after fleeing sustained bombardment 

By Zagazola Makama 

Three suspected Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have surrendered to troops of the Nigerian military in Damasak, Borno State, citing exhaustion and sustained military bombardment of their camps.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects surrendered at about 4:50 p.m. on July 28 to troops of Headquarters 5 Brigade in Damasak during ongoing counter-insurgency operations under Operation Hadin Kai.

The surrendered suspects were identified as Abba Musa Dogo, 24; Abubakar Bargaji, 28; and Ibrahim Abubakar, 16.

Preliminary interrogation revealed that they escaped from terrorist camps at Sabon Gari and Tunbun Mota, reportedly controlled by ISWAP commanders Abu Fatima and Abu Ayuba.

According to the sources, the suspects attributed their decision to surrender to fatigue and the sustained aerial and ground bombardment of their enclaves by Nigerian troops, which they said had made survival increasingly difficult.

The suspects also disclosed that they had been trained as gunboat operators and anti-aircraft gunners for operations in the Lake Chad region.

They further confessed that weapons were only issued to them before specific operations and were retrieved by their commanders immediately after the missions, suggesting a tightly controlled weapons management system within the terrorist group.

The sources said the three suspects expressed their readiness to renounce insurgency and embrace peace.

They are currently in military custody and are undergoing further profiling and investigation in line with established procedures.

The latest surrender adds to the growing number of terrorists abandoning the insurgency amid sustained military offensives targeting terrorist enclaves across the Lake Chad region under Operation Hadin Kai.