Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have arrested a 15-year-old suspected logistics courier for the Islamic State West Africa Province in Ngamdu, Borno State, with security sources linking him to recent terrorist attacks and ongoing military airstrikes on insurgent hideouts in the Jilli axis.
The suspect, identified as Tijjani, was reportedly apprehended on Sunday while attempting to procure supplies for insurgents operating along the Ngamdu–Benisheik corridor.
According to security sources, the teenager confessed during preliminary interrogation that he took part in the recent attacks on Benisheik and Ngamdu.“My name is Tijjani, I am 15 years old.
I was arrested today in Ngamdu. I was among the terrorists that attacked Benisheik and Ngamdu,” he was quoted as saying.
He further disclosed that the group mobilised from Jilli, a known insurgent enclave in Gubio Local Government Area, before carrying out the attacks and returning to the base afterward.“Before the attack we came from Jilli and returned there after the attack,” he said.
The suspect also revealed that he was redeployed from Jilli on Saturday with N850,000 to procure logistics for fighters. “I was sent from Jilli yesterday with N850,000 to collect some logistics from Ngamdu, but I was arrested by troops,” he reportedly stated.
He added that he left behind other insurgents at the Jilli enclave but could not confirm their fate following recent military airstrikes on the area.“I left my colleagues at Jilli yesterday. I don’t know what has happened to them there,” he said.
Security sources noted that the arrest offers further insight into ISWAP’s operational and logistics network in the region, highlighting the strategic role of Jilli as both a staging ground and supply hub.
The development comes barely 24 hours after the Air Component of OPHK carried out precision airstrikes on the Jilli axis, reportedly destroying a major logistics base and neutralising several insurgents.
The strikes, which followed sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, targeted a cluster of motorcycles and vehicles believed to be used by insurgents and their logistics handlers.
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