By BANNERNEWS Reporter
Troops of the Joint Task Force North East, Operation Hadin Kai, have arrested four suspected collaborators of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) during separate intelligence-led operations in Yobe and Borno states.
The military also intercepted 20 suspected family members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), popularly known as Boko Haram, who were reportedly fleeing a terrorist enclave in Borno State following sustained military offensives.
The Acting Military Information Officer of Operation Hadin Kai, Captain Mohammed Goni, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Tuesday, describing the operations as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle terrorist logistics networks across the North-East.
According to Goni, troops of the 159 Battalion under Sector 2 carried out a cordon-and-search operation in Geidam town, Yobe State, on August 3, acting on credible intelligence. The operation led to the arrest of two suspected Boko Haram collaborators believed to have supplied hard drugs and other logistics to insurgents.
Items recovered from the suspects included suspected Indian hemp, mobile phones, power banks, torchlights, knives, scissors, lighters, cigarette rolls, Pregabalin capsules, Piscof syrup, a National Identity Card, Permanent Voter Cards, ATM cards and cash totaling N14,530.
In a separate operation conducted the same day in Monguno, Borno State, troops of Sector 3 Garrison, working alongside the 242 Reconnaissance Battalion, arrested two suspected ISWAP logistics suppliers.
Preliminary interrogation, according to the military, revealed that the suspects allegedly supplied food items and other essential materials to ISWAP fighters operating around Kwatan Dowoshi village in Kukawa Local Government Area.
Recovered exhibits included cartons of assorted biscuits and Peak milk, sugar, sachets of garri, bars of soap, headlamps, lighters, Tecno button phones, an assault knife, a charm belt, prayer beads, herbal medicine and N6,600 in cash.
Meanwhile, troops of the 222 Battalion intercepted 20 suspected family members of JAS terrorists during a routine patrol along the Gezuwa axis in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State. The group comprised nine women, two men, eight female minors and one male minor.
The military said the individuals informed investigators that they fled Gezuwa following sustained military operations against terrorist hideouts in the area. They have since been handed over to the 21 Military Intelligence Regiment for profiling and further investigation, while the four arrested suspects and all recovered exhibits have been transferred to relevant military intelligence units.
Operation Hadin Kai reaffirmed its commitment to intensifying intelligence-driven operations aimed at disrupting terrorist supply chains and dismantling support networks, while urging members of the public to continue providing timely and credible information to security agencies.
