A senior commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abdussamad Ohida, has been killed in a surprise raid on his forest hideout in Owo, Ondo State, by a joint team of the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun. 

It was an intelligence-led operation, and it happened over the weekend, security sources said. Ohida, alias Anwar, was reportedly planning major attacks in some of the southern states. He and many of his group members were killed.

Ohida once served as a deputy to Abu Ikrimah, also known as Abu Uwais, who led ISWAP’s Central Nigeria cell until his arrest by the DSS in 2023, the sources said.

After the arrest, Ohida took over the group’s operations in some parts of the North Central and southern regions, where he was instrumental in planning, coordinating and executing attacks.

They said information obtained from Abu Uwais during interrogation provided the DSS with credible intelligence on Ohida’s plan to attack civilians during the forthcoming Yuletide season.

“The plan was to attack civilians during the festive period and eventually disrupt the general election in 2027. “The intelligence was confirmed by partners from the United Kingdom who supported the operation,” said one of the sources.

Ohida was linked to a string of attacks, including the December 31, 2025 invasion of Ipele Divisional Police Station in Owo, where attackers carted away eight AK-47 rifles and destroyed the building with explosives, the source linked.

He was also accused of participating in the July 28, 2022, attack on a military checkpoint along the Suleja-Zuba Road in Niger State, where many soldiers, officers and civilians were killed.

Other attacks attributed to him include the July 11, 2022, attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, the April 23, 2022, attack on Ogaminana Police Station in Adavi LGA, Kogi State, in which five police officers were killed, and the February 7, 2022, attack on the Okene Area Command police station.

Ohida was said to have planned and carried out the December 24, 2020 attack on a naval checkpoint in Okene, Kogi State, that killed two naval officers, among several other attacks across the country, the source said.

“The removal of Abdussamad Ohida may not be immediately felt, but it is a big disruption to ISWAP’s leadership structure, operational network and expansion efforts within central and southern Nigeria,” the source said.

He said the killing, a few months after the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bilal al-Minuki, was a major blow to ISWAP’s efforts to expand its presence in Nigeria and showed the growing efficiency of the country’s security services.