Joint Army, DSS, Amotekun operation kills ISWAP leader planning terrorist attacks
A combined intelligence-led operation involving troops of the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), and personnel from the Western Nigeria Security Network, known as Amotekun, has successfully eliminated a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander, Abdussamad Ohida, in the forests of Owo, Ondo State.
Security sources confirmed that Ohida, also known as Anwar, was neutralized over the weekend alongside several other fighters during a surprise raid on a terrorist hideout.
The operation preempted what intelligence agencies described as an imminent wave of large-scale attacks targeting southern states ahead of the upcoming festive period and the 2027 general elections.
According to intelligence briefings, Ohida previously served as second-in-command to Abu Ikrimah (also known as Abu Uwais), the former leader of ISWAP’s Central Nigeria network who was apprehended by the DSS in 2023.
Following Ikrimah’s arrest, Ohida assumed regional leadership, coordinating operational planning and logistics across parts of North-Central and Southern Nigeria.
Interrogations of detained operatives, corroborated by intelligence partners from the United Kingdom who supported the tracking operation, revealed that Ohida masterminded several high-profile attacks over recent years.
These included the December 31, 2025 raid on the Ipele Divisional Police Station in Owo where attackers stole eight AK-47 rifles before leveling the facility with explosives as well as the July 2022 attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja and the July 2022 assault on a military checkpoint along the Suleja–Zuba Road in Niger State.
