The Nigerian army announced Friday that it regained control of strategic Gwoza town from Boko Haram rebel group. "Troops this morning captured Gwoza destroying the Headquarters of the Terrorists self-styled Caliphate", Nigerian Ministry of Defence stated. In August 2014, Boko Haram seized control over Gwoza, which is considered to be the headquarters of Boko Haram in Nigeria. The recapture of Gwoza comes a day before the presidential elections, which were postponed due to the military operations against Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a Nigerian Salafist jihadi group, founded in January 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf to apply the Islamic law (Sharia) on all the states of Nigeria. The group which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) recently has committed several brutal acts against civilians in Nigeria, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in 2014.