Nigeria’s military announced on June 29 that several senior commanders from terrorist groups had surrendered in the northeast. Captain Mohammed Goni, acting military information officer for Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) against these groups, said the surrenders followed sustained military pressure and that those involved were being held in a secure location for profiling and debriefing.The announcement brought renewed attention to Nigeria’s terrorism crisis, which has widened significantly since the Boko Haram uprising of July 2009. What was once a largely Boko Haram-led insurgency confined to a small geography has become a broader conflict involving multiple terrorist factions and other armed networks. Today, Boko Haram is no longer the only major threat; the landscape also includes the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Ansaru, Mahmuda, Lakurawa, and many other, smaller groups involved in banditry, armed robbery and kidnapping.Nigeria’s response has also evolved since 2009. Alongside military operations such as OPHK, the authorities have developed programmes to process, deradicalise, rehabilitate and reintegrate some of those who leave terrorist groups. Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), established in 2016, was designed to support military operations by working with eligible, low-risk individuals associated with such groups. OPHK itself was launched in April 2021, replacing Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD), while other efforts include joint task forc …
