Troops Kill Senior ISWAP Shura Council Member Bako Gorgore in Borno

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have killed a senior commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Malam Bako Gorgore, also known as Abou Mustapha, during an encounter in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Security sources said the insurgent leader, believed to be about 60 years old, was killed during an operation in the Kukawa area near the Lake Chad basin, a region that has long served as a strategic base for insurgent activities.

His death was reportedly confirmed through multiple intelligence channels after security operatives intercepted internal communications among ISWAP fighters acknowledging the loss.

Gorgore was regarded as one of the longest-serving figures in the insurgency that began under Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf in the early 2000s. A native of Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State, he rose steadily through the ranks to become one of the influential commanders within the ISWAP structure.

Over the years, he held several operational and leadership roles, particularly in the Timbuktu Triangle, a vast forested and marshland region in northern Borno near Lake Chad that has served as a key insurgent stronghold.

Between 2018 and 2021, he reportedly served as the overall commander responsible for the Faruuk axis in the Timbuktu Triangle after the tenure of another insurgent commander, Mustapha Krimima. During that period, intelligence assessments described him as a central figure in coordinating insurgent operations, logistics, and fighter movements across the Lake Chad region.

Security sources also linked Gorgore to the internal conflict within the Boko Haram movement that led to the death of Abubakar Shekau, leader of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS). According to intelligence reports, he was among the senior ISWAP commanders who led fighters into Sambisa Forest in 2021 during the confrontation with Shekau’s faction.

The standoff ended when Shekau detonated an explosive device in the Tokumbere area of the forest, killing himself and some of his followers rather than surrender to the ISWAP faction. The development significantly altered the balance within the insurgency, weakening the JAS faction while strengthening ISWAP’s influence in parts of Borno State.

Following the events in Sambisa, Gorgore continued to maintain a prominent role within the group. By 2022, he had reportedly been elevated to ISWAP’s Shura Council, the organisation’s top decision-making body operating under the broader command structure aligned with the Islamic State’s global leadership.

Before his elevation to the council, he served as Amir Jaysh (military commander) in the Timbuktu Triangle after Mustapha Krimima. In that position, he supervised combat operations and coordinated activities across the Lake Chad “Tumbumma” enclaves, a network of islands and marshlands long used by insurgents as hideouts.

Gorgore had previously been reported dead in 2022 when intelligence suggested he was killed during a Nigerian Air Force airstrike targeting ISWAP positions in the Lake Chad region. Subsequent assessments, however, indicated that he survived the strike with injuries and later resurfaced within the group’s command structure.