ISWAP says it captured and killed Nigerian Army general after ambush

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has released a statement claiming it abducted and executed Brigadier-General M. Uba, the commander of the 25 Task Force Brigade, following a deadly ambush on troops operating along the Wajiroko–Damboa axis of Borno State.

General Uba was leading his men on a routine patrol near the fringes of Sambisa Forest on Friday night when insurgents opened fire on the convoy. The army confirmed that the troops came under “sudden and heavy insurgents fire” and that four personnel – two soldiers and two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force – were killed in the attack.

Hours after the incident, the army dismissed circulating reports that the brigade commander had been seized by militants, describing them as a “fake narrative.” The spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Appolonia Anele, said the general had survived the ambush and urged the public to ignore unverified claims.

But by Sunday, new information began to contradict the military’s earlier position. PRNigeria, a platform with close links to security agencies, reported that the general had indeed been captured after initially escaping the ambush. According to the platform, he communicated with his superiors following an aerial operation that helped him evade the first wave of attackers – only for insurgents to later track him down.

ISWAP released its own version of events through the Amaq propaganda outlet, publishing a collage showing the officer in his office and another image said to depict him after his capture, his uniform stained with blood around the legs. The group claimed it received intelligence that the officer had fled the initial attack and deployed a unit to locate him.

“Islamic State fighters overthrew a senior officer in the Nigerian army after a successful ambush on a military force in Borno…,” the group said, adding that its fighters “succeeded in capturing him on Saturday, near a village, after he was wounded.”

The militants said the officer was interrogated and killed shortly afterward. “A picture of the brigade commander from inside his office and a picture of him after he was captured by the Islamic State,” the group wrote in its Arabic-language statement, taunting the army over its earlier denial.

This incident marks the first time ISWAP has killed an officer of such senior rank since 2021. PRNigeria attributed the tragedy in part to compromised or insecure communication channels within the northeast theatre – suggesting that transmissions intended to coordinate rescue efforts may have exposed the officer’s location.

The Nigerian Army has not issued a formal statement on the general’s reported death.