The Nigerian troops involved in Operation Hadin Kai have arrested two suspected suicide bombers and disrupted the logistics chain that is sustaining the Boko Haram insurgents based in Borno and Yobe States. This is coming on the heels of the recent bombing of a mosque that claimed a large number of lives at the Maiduguri mosque.
According to security sources, the operations were carried out by the troops of the Joint Task Force North East (JTF NE) in collaboration with intelligence patrols in the wake of the attempts by the military to demobilize the cells of the suicidal bombers aligned to the radical groups in the region.
Who are the suspects arrested by the Nigerian Army?
One of the would-be suicide bombers was arrested in the town of Banki, in the state of Borno, through joint military efforts by the operation forces undertaking Operation Hadin Kai. The individual was caught close to the Central Mosque of Banki town on the 29th of December at about 5:40 p.m. in possession of primed IED materials.
The second suspect, whose name was later discovered to be Ibrahim, was arrested earlier in the town of Damaturu, situated in the state of Yobe, for his suspected involvement in the suicide bombing incident at the Gamboru Market Mosque in the town of Maiduguri on the evening of December 24.
“I was paid N100,000 to bomb worshippers, says Maiduguri suicide bomber”
— Zagazola (@ZagazOlaMakama) December 31, 2025
By: Zagazola Makama
A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber, Ibrahim Mohammed, captured by troops of Operation HADIM KAI in collaboration with hunters in Yobe state has revealed chilling details of how he… pic.twitter.com/XWJzMy6F9M
According to a counter-insurgency analyst named Zagazola Makama, the suspect was arrested by a hunters’ group operating under the guidance of the military forces before being relocated to the town of Maiduguri.
What groups are believed to be behind the attacks?
Also, investigations have shown that the attack forms part of the combined plan of the members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), Ansaru, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) to execute Suicide Bombing and Improvised Explosive device attacks in the Northeast.
Sources reported that a group of Boko Haram terrorists, believed to be headed by a well-known IED maker called Munzir Abu Ziyadah, manufactured as many as ten PIBDs at camps situated around the Ali Ngulde axis. The terrorists moved through the Ngoshe Mountains towards Gazuwa and Ngom.
What happened during the Gamboru Market Mosque bombing?
On December 24, a suicide vest was successfully detonated by one of the bombers inside the Gamboru Market Mosque in Maiduguri. This resulted in the death of at least five devotees who were praying when the incident occurred. About 32 others were injured.
I categorically condemn the appalling suicide attack which struck worshippers at a mosque in Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing at least five people and injuring many more. (1/2)
— Miguel Ángel Moratinos (@MiguelMoratinos) December 25, 2025
Further grilling of the suspects indicates that several suicide bombers had been dispatched to the city of Maiduguri before the operation took place. Ibrahim confessed to placing the IED in a bag at the entrance of the mosque, while his accomplice, Adamu, who was deceased, wore the suicide vest inside the mosque, which exploded.
What new intelligence has emerged from the interrogations?
During interrogation, Ibrahim was said to have led the police to the Izala Mosque, located in Tashan Joni, Maiduguri, where he claimed that he dropped a bag containing an IED. The reason for dropping the said item was that he could not get close to the target. Subsequently, the IED was not picked from the place indicated.
Further interrogation, according to the police, revealed that a total of six suicide bombers were used in the Maiduguri operation, under the coordination of a top terror kingpin. The suspect equally identified the three of the bombers as those residing in Maiduguri, whose names were given as Salisu, Yusuf, and Adamu while the three others, whose names are Adamu, Yusuf, and Abdullahi, hailed from the Michika Local Government area of Adamawa State.
