LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters said troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralized more than 30 terrorists and facilitated the return of over 700 Nigerian refugees over the past week, following intensified military operations across the North East.

Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja told reporters late Monday that the successes resulted from aggressive, intelligence-driven ground and air operations targeting Boko Haram, ISWAP, and JAS elements, carried out jointly with air components and local security groups.

He said troops conducting clearance operations in the Timbuktu Triangle around Kimba in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State neutralized more than 20 terrorists, including a notorious commander identified as Julaibib. The Timbuktu Triangle has long been regarded as a strategic hideout and transit corridor for terrorist groups operating in the North East.

Further engagements were recorded, he added, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and in Hong and Mubi North local government areas of Adamawa State, resulting in additional neutralizations, arrests of suspected kidnappers, the rescue of abducted persons, and the recovery of arms and other military equipment.

Onoja also said troops uncovered and destroyed three major terrorist detention facilities along the Damboa-Gujba axis of the Timbuktu Triangle. Each facility, he noted, had the capacity to hold about 300 captives, with 70 victims rescued during the operation.

In a related development, the military facilitated the repatriation of a second batch of about 700 Nigerian refugees from Cameroon through the Banki border in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, with security provided throughout the exercise.

He added that sustained operations across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states led to the arrest of terrorist logistics suppliers and the recovery of arms and ammunition.

Nigeria’s North East has for more than a decade been the epicenter of a violent insurgency led mainly by Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISWAP. The conflict, which escalated in 2009, has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions, and severely disrupted livelihoods across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states.

Despite sustained military offensives in recent years that have degraded insurgent capabilities and reclaimed territory, sporadic attacks and the continued use of improvised explosive devices persist, keeping stabilization efforts and the safe return of displaced populations high on the government’s security agenda.