Kingsley Nweze in Abuja
There was jubilation in the camps of the military on the frontlines in Borno State following the surrender of a senior member of Boko Haram, Bashir Bulabuduwaye to troops of the Nigerian Army, resulting from their renewed onslaught in the Lake Chad area.
Security sources said Bulabuduwaye was Boko Haram’s chief executioner, who killed all abducted persons condemned by the group.
It was gathered that the terrorist and his family, his wife and children inclusive, surrendered to the troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Banki, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State on September 12, 2022.
Intelligence sources said Bulabuduwaye was the official who carried out death sentence on captured military men and civilians when Abubakar Shekau was a leader of the terrorist group.
The sources said the former terror kingpin had appeared in many grisly footages showing fighters aligned with Boko Haram, where he slit the throats of prisoners and shot captives after accusing them of being infidels.
“The terrorist, Bulabuduwaye and his team of executors had murdered at least 1,000 persons captured and sentenced to death,” said another military source.
The source stated that Bulabuduwaye was among the commanders, who fled last year’s invasion of the terror group’s stronghold in the Sambisa forest area by a column of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, in May 2021 which resulted in the death of Shekau.
The source adds: “He broke away after refusing to pledge his allegiance to the Islamic State, to form a camp in Kote village in the axis of Banki, where he was hiding with other fighters,” the source said.
“He surrendered due to the sustained intelligence-led air strikes, heavy artillery bombardment and ground offensives by the Nigerian Military troops of Operation Hadin Kai.
“It was difficult for him to access food and other logistics coupled with the flooding which already ravaged most of their settlement.
“He also fears battlefield elimination by ISWAP, being one of those fingered to be eliminated for refusing to pay allegiance.”
The Theatre Commander, North-east “Operation Hadin Kai”, Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, recently said over 79,000 insurgents, comprising combatants and non-combatants, had so far surrendered to the military.
