By Ado Oyeyemi
A senior commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province, Abdussamad Ohida, has been killed during a joint security operation in Owo forest, Ondo State.
Ohida, also known as Anwar, was reportedly eliminated alongside several other members of the terrorist group by a combined team of Nigerian Army troops, Department of State Services personnel and operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun.
Security sources said the operation, conducted at the weekend, followed intelligence indicating that Ohida was planning attacks on civilians in parts of southern Nigeria, particularly during the forthcoming festive period.
The sources said the intelligence was obtained partly through the interrogation of a former ISWAP commander, Abu Ikrimah, also known as Abu Uwais, who was arrested by the DSS in 2023.
Ohida had reportedly served as Ikrimah’s deputy before taking over the leadership of ISWAP operations across parts of the North-Central and southern regions following his superior’s arrest.
According to the sources, Ohida subsequently became involved in the planning, coordination and execution of several attacks across the country.
One of the security sources said intelligence indicated that Ohida was preparing to attack civilians during the Yuletide and disrupt the 2027 general elections.
The source added that the intelligence was corroborated by security partners in the United Kingdom, contributing to the decision to launch the operation against the terrorist group’s forest hideout.
Ohida was also accused of masterminding several attacks, including the December 31, 2025 invasion of the Ipele Divisional Police Station in Owo, Ondo State, during which eight AK-47 rifles were reportedly stolen and the station was destroyed with explosives.
He was further linked to the July 28, 2022 attack on a military checkpoint along the Suleja-Zuba Road in Niger State, the July 11, 2022 assault on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, and attacks on police formations in Adavi and Okene in Kogi State.
The source said Ohida was also responsible for the December 24, 2020 attack on a naval checkpoint in Okene, Kogi State, where two naval officers were killed.
The killing of the ISWAP commander, the source said, would weaken the group’s leadership structure and its efforts to establish a stronger operational presence in central and southern Nigeria.
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The source described Ohida’s elimination, coming months after the reported killing of ISIS leader Abu Bilal al-Minuki, as a major setback for the terrorist group’s expansion efforts in Nigeria.
