Mahmud Mamman Nur Albarnawy, the eldest son of Mamman Nur, founder of the Islamic State of the West African Province, ISWAP, has surrendered to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Zagazola Makama, Lake Chad Basin counterterrorism and insurgency expert, in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, disclosed that 22-year-old Mahmud, surrendered to the NSCDC on Sunday and was handed over to the Bulunkutu rehabilitation facility.
Makama disclosed that Mahmud confessed to having taken part in attacks in Bama, Banki, Gwoza and several other places as a middle rank fighter under the Boko Haram group.
According to him, Mahmud, after undergoing profiling at the Command Headquarters of NSCDC in Maiduguri, was confirmed to be the senior son of the late ISWAP founder.
“Mahmud was later debriefed and profiled by an intelligence officer of the command where he confessed to having sneaked out of the Ali Ngulde camp in Mandara Mountain, Gwoza LGA, into Maiduguri and stayed for about a month at Gwange in the city capital before relocating to Gamboru Ngala without any alarm or distress signs from communities, ” the security expert said.
“During his stay in Gamboru Ngala, some of his late father’s loyalists were persuading him to return to the Lake Chad general area to pay allegiance to ISWAP but he refused, citing the betrayal and eventual execution of his late father.”