Troops rescue five escapees from terrorists’ enclaves in Borno

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have rescued five children who escaped from Boko Haram terrorist enclaves in different parts of Borno State following sustained military pressure on insurgent hideouts.

A counter-insurgency and security expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this in a post on X.

Makama stated that the rescue operations were carried out on June 4 during ongoing fighting and perimeter clearance patrols conducted by troops in the North-East theatre.

According to him, troops of the 82 Division Task Force Battalion rescued two female escapees, Aisha Idrisa, 13, and Fatima Abubakar, 11, around the Amuda general area of Gwoza Local Government Area.

The security expert added that the girls reportedly escaped from a terrorist enclave in the Sahalawa area after intensified military bombardments and ground operations forced the insurgents to abandon their positions.

He stressed that preliminary debriefing revealed that the two girls are indigenes of Pulka community and were abducted by terrorists in 2025.

“The escapees disclosed that sustained military pressure and bombardments compelled the terrorists to flee, creating an opportunity for them to escape captivity,” he said.

The rescued girls were subsequently screened, documented and reunited with their families at the Pulka Internally Displaced Persons, IDPCamp in the presence of camp officials.

In a related development, three other female escapees identified as Wuriya Kaka, 12, Fauza Abu, 13, and Hussaina Usman, 13, surrendered to troops of the 26 Task Force Brigade in Gwoza after escaping from Guduf Nagadayo in the Mandara Mountains.

According to Makama, the three girls are currently undergoing screening and profiling procedures in line with established protocols.