ISWAP Leader Abdussamad Ohida Killed in Joint Ondo Security Operation
A top ISWAP commander, Abdussamad Ohida (popularly known as Anwar), has been killed in the Owo forest area of Ondo State.
The weekend raid—executed by the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Amotekun Corps—successfully neutralized the Islamic State West Africa Province leader alongside several of his fighters.
Security intelligence indicates that Ohida was actively coordinating deadly terror attacks targeting southern Nigeria ahead of the upcoming Christmas and New Year festivities.
Ohida stepped into a frontline leadership role across North-Central and Southern Nigeria following the 2023 arrest of his former boss, Abu Ikrimah (Abu Uwais).
Interrogations of Abu Uwais, combined with critical intelligence support from United Kingdom security partners, exposed Ohida’s upcoming operational plans.
Intelligence sources reveal his immediate objectives included unleashing mass-casualty attacks on civilians during the December festive period and destabilizing the region to disrupt early preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Ohida’s Bloodstained Track Record
Before his elimination, Nigerian security agencies had linked Ohida to a string of high-profile, deadly operations spanning several years. These include the Dec 31, 2025, bomb attack on Ipele Divisional Police Station (Owo, Ondo), where eight AK-47 rifles were stolen. He is also directly linked to the July 28, 2022, ambush on a military checkpoint on the Suleja-Zuba Road (Niger State), which led to the deaths of soldiers and civilians.
Ohida was also allegedly involved in the July 11, 2022, Kuje Custodial Centre jailbreak in Abuja, in which hundreds of deadly terrorists escaped, as well as the April 23, 2022, attack on the Ogaminana Police Station in Kogi State that left five police officers dead.
