Awana Gaidam, the head bomb maker and a senior member of the Boko Haram Terrorist Group, was killed by an IED he created himself (IED).
In addition to holding a prominent position within the Boko Haram terrorist group's command structure, the 39-year-old bomb maker was one of their skilled members who worked on IEDs (IEDs).
Awana was thought to have planned numerous IED strikes against Operation Hadin Kai forces while they were on battle patrols along major highways between Maiduguri and Damboa, Bama to Pulka and Bita, as well as Banki to Darajamal broad region.
According to intelligence sources, the bomb exploded on his vehicle on March 27 near Njumia and Arra in the general vicinity of the Sambisa forest, instantly killing him.
The sources claimed that Awana had placed bombs in key locations to strengthen his camp inside the Sambisa forest, but little did he know that his evil scheme to kill soldiers and sabotage military operations nearby would only come back to claim his life as the explosive device shattered his body into several pieces.
To put this development's enormous scope into perspective, recall that Boko Haram and ISWAP have used IEDs in more than 90 attacks in the North East since 2022.
The Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai, supported by the combined forces of the Multination Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Niger, Cameroon, and Chad in the Lake Chad sub-region, escalated and sustained pressure on the insurgents, forcing them to use IEDs.
Hence, Awana's death signals a significant blow to the terrorists' ability to conduct operations.
The Nigerian military's counterterrorism operation in the North East may have achieved a significant victory with the death of Awana.
How the Nigerian military will take advantage of this development to achieve further successes is still unclear.