BOKO HARAM COMMANDER KILLED;PREVENTED FROM SURRENDERING HOSTAGES TO THE NIGERIAN MILITARY
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Joseph Omoniyi
A Nigerian Boko Haram commander known as Ali Gaga, has been reported killed by his comrades over an alleged plan to surrender and hand over hundreds of hostages to the military.
According to reports from AFP, Ali Gaga was shot and killed on Thursday, September 27 by other commanders in Boko Haram’s Islamic State-affiliated faction after they uncovered his plan to release 300 hostages in the Lake Chad region and hand them over to Nigerian troops before surrendering himself.
His death comes after the group’s de facto leader Mamman Nur was killed in August by radical lieutenants who accused him of betrayal and back-channel peace talks with authorities, sparking fears of a hard line takeover in Boko Haram.
Gaga was forced to join what is now Islamic State West Africa Province in 2015 after the group seized his herd of cattle, the source said.
After joining the group he was trained in weapons handling and valued because of his mastery of the difficult terrain.
Reports had it that Gaga, a Fulani man from Taraba who became an ISWAP commander, “was not interested in holding captives for ransom like others,” and that he wanted to return to his family.
He was in touch with some mediators and had concluded arrangements to switch sides and had taken along about 300 hostages with when the group found out.
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