A shocking development has emerged in the Lake Chad region, as the young son of late Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, has reportedly been apprehended by Chadian security forces. According to multiple reports confirmed by AFP through intelligence and security channels, the suspect, identified as Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, was allegedly leading a small but dangerous jihadist cell at the time of his arrest.
The suspect, who is believed to be only 18 years old, was taken into custody alongside five other alleged insurgents. This brings the total number of arrested individuals to six. Although the Chadian police acknowledged the detention of the group, they have yet to officially confirm whether the young man in their custody is indeed the biological son of the radical preacher who founded Boko Haram before his death in 2009.
For over fifteen years, Boko Haram has been one of the deadliest terror organisations across Africa’s Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, carrying out relentless attacks on villages, killing civilians, kidnapping school children, and targeting military bases. Founded in northeastern Nigeria by Mohammed Yusuf, the group’s activities have extended into Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, destabilizing the entire region.
Sources within the intelligence community revealed that the arrested cell is believed to be aligned with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction that broke away from Boko Haram following internal ideological disagreements. One security operative disclosed that Muslim Yusuf was acting as the head of this six-man unit, despite his young age, raising concerns about how Boko Haram leaders continue to recruit and groom the children of their founders for leadership roles within the insurgency.
“The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder,” one intelligence officer stated, adding that Yusuf had been just an infant when his father was killed during the Nigerian military crackdown in 2009 that left nearly 800 people dead in Maiduguri. This brutal episode marked the beginning of Boko Haram’s full-scale insurgency in the region.
Recent photographs circulated following the arrest appear to show a slim young man in a blue tracksuit, who closely resembles Yusuf, standing alongside older men believed to be his fellow insurgents. Security officials claim that Yusuf, who also operates under the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, is in fact the younger brother of Habib Yusuf, widely known as Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi, the current leader of ISWAP and one of the most feared jihadist commanders in West Africa.
A former top lieutenant of Mohammed Yusuf, who has since defected and denounced Boko Haram, corroborated the arrest. He explained: “He and his team were arrested by the Chadian authorities. They are six in total, and Muslim was acting as their leader. His capture is a major development considering his family ties within the insurgency.”
Meanwhile, Chadian police spokesman Paul Manga also issued a statement, confirming that the six detainees were indeed apprehended some months back. He described them as “bandits who operate in the city,” adding that they had no valid documents and were active Boko Haram members. Although details of their activities remain under investigation, authorities believe their operations may have included planning cross-border attacks in the Lake Chad Basin.
The arrest of Muslim Mohammed Yusuf underscores the generational continuity of extremism within Boko Haram and ISWAP ranks. Analysts fear that the children of slain or captured jihadist leaders are being groomed to take over militant operations, making it difficult to fully eliminate the insurgency even after key leaders are neutralized. For now, Chadian authorities are expected to intensify interrogations to extract critical intelligence on ISWAP’s current network, strategy, and planned operations across the troubled Lake Chad region.
This development has sparked renewed concerns among regional security experts, as it highlights the evolving dynamics of jihadist leadership succession, the persistence of Boko Haram’s ideology, and the deep-rooted threats that continue to destabilize West Africa more than a decade after Mohammed Yusuf’s death.