The security agents have for days been tracking the militants in battles which officials said have claimed 28 lives since the self-styled Talibans raided a police station in Gwoza in Borno State last week Monday, killing four officers and a civilian as well as stealing ammunition.
State police commissioner Ade Ajakaiye told AFP security agents were already closing in on the fleeing militants.
"I think it is a matter of hours before the militants will be flushed out. There are few of them still scattered on the mountains. The danger they pose has been reduced by hunger, thirst and fatigue. They are in dire need of food. For them, it is now a battle for survival," he said.
He said one of them, disguising as a mad man, was captured alive on Sunday.
"Although, he disguised as a mad man. our men were able to identify him. From preliminary interrogations, it is clear that he was among the group that attacked Yobe State in January. He has been moved to Abuja for further interrogation," Ajakaiye added.
Earlier, Usman Chiroma, spokesman for the governor of Nigeria's northeastern Borno State, said the military have intensified efforts to track down the extremist group.
"Military action against the fleeing militants continued with intensity today (Monday) as government is determined to either arrest and kill all of them,"
"We are not relenting in this task at all. It is a battle we must win," he told an AFP correspondent.
A total of 50 assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were recovered from the militants shot dead by soldiers last week, according to official figures.
Borno State governor Ali Modu Sherif had earlier told AFP: "We have directed the soldiers to kill them on sight. We want to end this madness once and for all."
Monday, the soldiers continued their search for the fugitives holed up on Mandara mountains, Chiroma added.
The insurgents who struck last week Monday were mainly university students who claim to draw inspiration from Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s Islamic Taliban militia.
In January, they launched attacks in neighbouring Yobe State which were put down by soldiers after three days of fighting.
During that fighting, scores of the insurgents, who numbered about 200, were killed and 50 taken prisoner, but others evaded arrest and went underground.
In the latest attack, they took seven people hostage, two of whom they have killed and threw their bodies down the mountainside while one escaped, survivors said.
Deputy inspector general of police Mike Okiro told AFP five of the militants have been arrested by the Cameroonian authorities as they attempted to escape into their territory.
Nigeria is pressing for their extradition, he said.
The chairman of Gwoza's local government, Umar Sa-ad, told AFP he was leading a government delegation to Cameroon Monday to request the extradition of the arrested militants.
"I will be leaving soon to negotiate their repatriation to Nigeria for prosecution," he said.
He said tensions have reduced in Gwoza following the clampdown on the armed men.
"Our people are now more relaxed and cooperating with security forces to flush out the armed gangs," he said.
"They have assured us that any militant found in their midst will be exposed and handed over to the police," he added.
