Just In:Joint Security Task Force Kills Top ISWAP Leader Ohida In Ondo Forest Raid, Thwarts Plot To Disrupt 2027 Elections

OWO, Nigeria — A major counter-terrorism operation has disrupted a multi-state terror network following the neutralisation of a high-ranking commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Ondo State.

Abdussamad Ohida, a notorious terrorist leader widely known within jihadist circles as Anwar, was killed over the weekend during a fierce firefight in a dense forest hideout in the Owo Local Government Area. The successful operation was executed by a joint task force comprising the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), and operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun.

Military and intelligence sources confirmed that the raid was launched after actionable intelligence—gathered with the support of United Kingdom intelligence partners—tracked Ohida to the location. He was reportedly in the advanced stages of orchestrating coordinated bomb and gun attacks targeting major southern states ahead of the upcoming Yuletide festive season. Intelligence briefs also indicated that the broader objective of his network was to instigate widespread instability to disrupt the 2027 general elections.

Ohida had long been on the radar of national security agencies. He assumed operational leadership of ISWAP’s central and southern cells following the 2023 arrest of his predecessor, Abu Ikrimah (also known as Abu Uwais). Security agencies have directly linked Ohida to several devastating operations, including the July 2022 Kuje Correctional Centre jailbreak in Abuja, which freed dozens of high-profile terror suspects, as well as multiple lethal ambushes on military, police, and naval checkpoints across Kogi and Niger states.

Defense analysts view the elimination of Ohida as a massive strategic blow to ISWAP’s efforts to expand its operational footprint outside its traditional northeastern stronghold. His death marks the second major loss for the global terror network this year, following the neutralisation of ISIS leader Abu Bilal al-Minuki in May. Security forces remain on high alert in the region as clearing operations continue within the Owo axis.