N’Djamena, Chad — Exclusive photographs obtained by counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama have confirmed the arrest of the 18-year-old son of late Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, during a recent security operation in Chad.
The young suspect, identified as Abdrahman Yusuf, was captured alongside five other militants believed to be part of a jihadist cell linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter faction of Boko Haram.
According to intelligence sources, Abdrahman was not just a recruit but the commander of the six-man unit, operating within the Lake Chad Basin. Photos obtained by Zagazola show him clad in a blue tracksuit, visibly younger and more slender than the other suspects, yet bearing a striking resemblance to his late father.
Security sources in Chad confirmed the detention of six suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP members but declined to disclose further details about their identities.
Intelligence reports further revealed that Abdrahman is the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, widely known as Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi, strengthening suspicions of a continued family influence in the jihadist movement.
Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram, was captured by Nigerian forces in July 2009 but was later killed in police custody in Maiduguri. His death triggered a violent escalation that evolved into a regional insurgency spanning Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
The younger Yusuf, believed to have been born in Nigeria before the insurgency erupted, was reportedly groomed into militancy from adolescence and recently surfaced as a rising field commander in ISWAP’s operations around Lake Chad.
“He and his team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number, and he was the head of the cell,” a regional intelligence officer disclosed.
Analysts view the arrest as a significant breakthrough in the fight against jihadist groups across the Lake Chad Basin, where ISWAP and Boko Haram factions continue to pose security challenges despite sustained military operations.
