Mahmud Mamman Nur Albarnawy, the eldest son of the founder of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP), has voluntarily surrendered to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Maiduguri.

The 22-year-old turned himself in on Sunday, May 12, 2024, and is currently under the care of the Bulunkutu rehabilitation facility.

The surrender was disclosed by Zagazola Makama, a counterterrorism expert in the Lake Chad Basin, through a social media post on a platform formerly known as Twitter.

Mahmud has reportedly admitted to participating in various assaults as a mid-level combatant with the Boko Haram faction, operating in areas such as Bama, Banki, and Gwoza.

Post-surrender profiling by the NSCDC confirmed Mahmud as the son of the deceased ISWAP leader. His surrender was facilitated by his uncle in Gamborun Ngala, following Mahmud's expressed desire to submit to Nigerian authorities.

During debriefing, Mahmud revealed that he had discreetly left the Ali Ngulde camp in Mandara Mountain, Gwoza LGA, and spent a month in Maiduguri's Gwange district before moving to Gamboru Ngala, all without raising suspicions in the community.

While in Gamboru Ngala, he resisted calls from his late father's followers to rejoin ISWAP in the Lake Chad region, citing the betrayal and execution of his father as reasons for his defection.

Makama said;

“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.

“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,” he added.