TROOPS FOIL BOKO HARAM EXTORTION MISSION, KILL DRIVER IN YOBE

Troops of Sector 2 of the North-East Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), have foiled a Boko Haram extortion mission and neutralised a terrorist driver during an operation along the Paya-Kafiya axis of Yobe State.

The military said troops also recovered an AK-47 magazine, ammunition and other items during the operation conducted on July 19, 2026.

The Acting Media Information Officer of Operation Hadin Kai, Captain Mohammed Goni, disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday.

He said the operation successfully disrupted a terrorist plot aimed at extorting innocent civilians and further degraded Boko Haram/ISWAP networks by denying them access to illicit sources of funding.

According to Goni, troops acted on credible intelligence that two Volkswagen Golf vehicles and motorcycles were transporting suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP members to collect illegal levies from communities in Bukarti village.

“Troops of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bukarti, in conjunction with the 27 Task Force Brigade, swiftly deployed an aggressive fighting patrol to the Paya-Kafiya axis on July 19, 2026,” he said.

He added that the troops made contact with the terrorists and engaged them with superior firepower. During the exchange, one of the Volkswagen Golf vehicles was immobilised and its driver was killed.

The remaining terrorists, unable to withstand the troops’ superior firepower, abandoned their vehicle and fled into the surrounding bush with gunshot wounds.

Goni said follow-up exploitation operations conducted on July 20 along the Paya-Kafiya–Garin Gada axis led to the recovery of the abandoned Volkswagen Golf vehicle, 25 rounds of belted PKT ammunition, one loaded AK-47 magazine, 15 empty PKT ammunition cases, assorted drugs, including paracetamol and nicotine products, as well as mechanical tools believed to have supported terrorist logistics and sustainment activities.

He said the successful operation underscores the effectiveness of intelligence-led operations and Operation Hadin Kai’s sustained offensive in disrupting terrorist logistics, dismantling illicit revenue networks and denying insurgents freedom of movement across the North-East.