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Insurgence led by Boko Haram, a self-proclaimed Islamic group, appears to be gaining ground once again as its terror attacks has become a worrisome thing for the military, which seems to be losing its grip in the North East
| By Olu Ojewale | Aug 14, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT |
The war against Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorists group, is not yet won. In fact, it is far from being over. The reality of this appears to be dawning on Nigerians, especially the military in the past few weeks when the terror group increased its tempo of attacks in the North-Eastern part of the country. Invariably, the attacks forced acting President Yemi Osinbajo to summon for a meeting with the service chiefs after which he directed them to relocate Maiduguri, capital of Borno State quench the crisis.
Hence, the service chiefs led by Abayomi Olonisakin, a general and chief of defence staff, relocated to Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday, August 1. He was with other service chiefs such as Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general and chief of army staff, as well as Sadique Abubakar, an air marshal and chief of air staff. After about four hours of a closed-meeting with war commanders on ground led by Attahir Ibrahim, a major general and the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, the military issued a statement saying it had adopted new strategies to salvage the worsening security situation in the North East.
At the end of the meeting, all the service chiefs in attendance avoided contact with journalists.
John Enenche, a major general and director of Defence Information, who briefed the press, said that the service chiefs were, indeed, in Maiduguri “in compliance with the recent presidential directives by the acting president.” He said the service chiefs brainstormed on the “received strategic direction and operational plans” which he said, was expected to “give impetus to the military effort in the northeast operation.”
He said the service chiefs had in their overall appraisal observed the need for the members of the public to be more proactive in giving information to the military on any identified activities of Boko Haram.
He said some of the key information the military chiefs felt the troops need to succeed comprises: information on “terrorist sleeper cell, terrorist concentration areas and outpost location, collaborators and informants to the terrorists, suspicious habitation and living quarters within rural and urban centres, and suspicious isolated settlements and camps outside normal living quarters.”
Besides, Enenche said that the recent 40-day ultimatum given by Buratai for the troop commanders in the North East to fish out Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, still remained valid. He did not say what would happen if the commanders failed to arrest Shekau at the end of the ultimatum.
“We will still catch him even if the ultimatum expires,” Enenche simply said.
A similar message was taken to Damaturu, capital of Yobe State, on Wednesday, August 2, where Buratai addressed officers and men of the Nigerian Army. He said the war needed to be intensified to see the end of insurgency.
Nevertheless, he commended the troops for the level of achievement recorded so far. He gave the assurance that the authorities would do everything possible to support them in the battle, while also encouraging them to work in co-operation with other security agents. He assured the troops that the highest military hierarchy will continue to give them all the necessary support in the fight.
In any case, the Nigerian troops, it appears, will need more than that assurance to succeed. The Boko Haram insurgents whom President Muhammadu Buhari had declared to have been technically defeated as far back as December 2015 seem to have regained its strength recently with various attacks in the North Eastern parts of Nigeria which have resulted in the killing and injuring of a great number of people.
Perhaps, thinking that the area was safe, on Tuesday, July 25, a group of geologists from the University of Maiduguri as well as their aides who were subcontracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, went to engage in oil exploration in Lake Chad region. Unfortunately, they were ambushed and abducted by Boko Haram gunmen.
About 24 hours later, the army issued a statement that nine soldiers were killed while all the kidnapped NNPC workers were rescued. The claim turned out to be false. It later became apparent that none of the UNIMAID scientists and their aides was rescued. Five of them were brought into Maiduguri dead. Three others later appeared in a video released on Friday, July 28, by Boko Haram in which they called on the federal government to secure their release. The military casualty and that of the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, was also much higher.
In a fresh statement issued on Saturday, July 29, Sani Usman, a brigadier general, and army spokesman, said the earlier misleading statement was regrettable. He said more corpses comprising five soldiers, 11 CJTF and five explorations workers were further recovered by military search and rescue team.
As if that was not bad enough, early on Wednesday, August 2, morning, no fewer than seven persons were killed in another terrorists group attacks on Midlu Village of Vapura ward in Madagali Local Government area of Adamawa State. The casualty figure was confirmed by the state government. The community hosts Sukur World heritage site which was destroyed by the insurgents in 2014.
Ahmad Sajoh, the state commissioner for Information and Strategy, who confirmed the development to newsmen in Yola, state capital, said: “They (insurgents) attacked around 2 a.m. killing six people while one of them was killed by hunters. Soldiers and hunters have dislodged them from the area.”
According to Bulus Dauda, councillor representing the ward in Madagali Local Government Council, the insurgents, who attacked the village from the eastern flank of Sambisa forest, also injured 10 villagers before fleeing with carted food items
Residents have also since fled the village. Some of the fleeing residents said the rampaging insurgents stormed the village, at 3:00 a.m. and opened fire on sleeping residents. One of them said: “Despite the attacks, some villagers were able to flee into nearby bushes and hills. The killed villagers were shot while they were sleeping. As at the last count, seven people were killed while about 10 others were injured and were rushed to a clinic at Gulak.”
Muhammad Yusuf, chairman of Madagali Local Government Area, confirmed the death of seven people but said the total figure was uncertain.
What seems to be certain, however, is that the Boko Haram insurgents appear to have found new impetus to carry more attacks in several soft sports in the North East of the country. No fewer than 100 persons were said to have been killed in the past one month in such various attacks.
The United States government blamed the development on the inability of security agencies in Nigeria to share intelligence report, which is also causing animosity that is affecting the success in the fight against Boko Haram. The allegation was contained in the Country Report on Terrorism 2016 published by the US Department of State’s Bureau for Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism.
The report noted that the Department of State Security, DSS, which is responsible for counter terrorism, sometimes failed to share intelligence report with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, making it harder to investigate Boko Haram financing. “While the Nigerian military had primary responsibility for combating terrorism in the northeast, several government agencies performed counterterrorism functions, including the Department of State Security, DSS, the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, and the Ministry of Justice. Counterterrorism activities of these agencies and ministry were ostensibly coordinated by the Office of the National Security Advisor, ONSA. The level of interagency cooperation and information sharing was limited and at times hindered overall effectiveness.”
The report blamed the EFCC and the ministry of justice over delay in prosecuting financiers of terrorists although the federal government shares the names of known terrorists and terrorist organisations to banks and other financial institutions.
The report further stated: “Despite gains made by the MNJTF, much of its reported progress was merely duplication of failed efforts carried over from the end of the last dry/fighting season. The Nigerian military was unable to hold and re-build civilian structures and institutions in those areas it had cleared.”
Besides, it said internally displaced persons, IDPs, were being returned to their homes without “proper security and appropriate conditions” being put in place for safe and voluntary returns. “There was no evidence in 2016 of the implementation of a coordinated plan to restore civilian security in recaptured territories.”
Overall the report said: “The NPF also stood up the Special Program for Embassy Augmentation and Response, which is a specialised selection and training programme for local police dedicated to the security of the US Embassy and other diplomatic missions throughout Abuja. “The Nigerian government worked with the FBI to investigate specific terrorism matters, predominantly through the DSS, and provided improvised explosive device components to the FBI for analysis at the Terrorist Device Analysis Center. ONSA, DSS, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, and NPF explosive ordnance and post blast personnel worked with FBI special agents and special agent bomb-technicians in-country. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and NPF also received crime scene training relevant to counter-terrorism investigations. “The Nigerian government actively cooperated with the United States and other international partners to prevent further acts of terrorism in Nigeria against US citizens, citizens of third countries, and Nigerian citizens. Nigerian law enforcement agencies cooperated with the US FBI to assist with counter-terrorism investigations, including disruptions, information sharing, and interviews.”
Another theory being propagated as responsible for the recent escalation of Boko Haram insurgence is the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently receiving treatment for illness in London. Some analysts would want to believe that the cabal in his government would not want Osinbajo, who is acting as president, to succeed or be seen as being in charge, hence, the current security situation in the North East.
It is also believed that the cabal would want to undermine the security in the area until Buhari comes back before putting everything in place as a political propaganda to show that he is the only one that can handle the Boko Haram insurgence.
That notwithstanding, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State believes that corruption in the military is much to blame for the current insecurity in the North East. In a statement issued on Wednesday, August 2, by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Fayose urged the federal government to stop lying to Nigerians about the insurgents and let the people know the situation on ground so that genuine assistance could be offered. He also alleged that a possible release of some Chibok girls was imminent to divert attention and give the impression that it was making progress in the fight against the insurgents.
The governor described the United States “Country Report on Terrorism 2016” and the Transparency International reports revealing corruption in the military as confirmation of his earlier position that the federal government lied to Nigerians that Boko Haram was technically defeated.
Besides, he said: “With over 120 Nigerians killed by the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State last month alone, it is necessary for the federal government to face the reality that it has a very long walk to victory in the fight against the insurgents.’’
In any case, Fayose said: “The government cannot keep telling the public that Boko Haram has been decimated and the same Boko Haram was able to kill over 120 people in just one state in one month.’’
Indeed, President Buhari had told the BBC in an interview in December 2015, that Nigeria had technically defeated the Boko Haram insurgents. But the recent resurgence seems to have put a lie to that assertion.
Nevertheless, David Okoro, a security expert, on his part, would like to blame the recent development on the failure of intelligence. Okoro said in an interview that Nigeria should be more active in counter intelligence to deal with Boko Haram. “It is embarrassing to the country. We should be able to know what they (insurgents) are doing. The failure of our intelligence is responsible for why they are able to hits many soft targets in the North East. We have several intelligence agencies in the Military, Police and the DSS; so, it baffles me that these intelligences are not coordinated enough to tackle them,” he said.
Okoro said he was embarrassed when Sani Usman, a brigadier general and the Army spokesman alleged that some persons in the military were giving out information to the Boko Haram. “The military has arrested so many Boko Haram insurgents; the question is: what are they doing with the analysis of the information gathered from them? We also have technology devises to get information and trace movements of Boko Haram insurgents in Sambisa forest and other places. We can deploy technology to monitor their accounts and how they get funding for their operations. Unless we put all these to use, we may not be able to tackle Boko Haram insurgence in the North East,” he said.
The security expert said since there are not enough military personnel to monitor every nuke and cranny of the North East, he advised the service chiefs to go back to the drawing table and fashion out how best to tackle the insurgence and adopt information sharing method in order to save the country from further embarrassment.
Similarly, Okoro said he would want the country to determine whether it wants the Boko Haram war to end or continue. He said for the nation to win the war on terrorism it must be ready to liaise with other nations such as the US, Britain, Germany and France to get information on terrorists activities. He also warned that there are people who would not want the war to end because it had become their ATM to make money.
Similarly, Joshua William, a businessman who claims to be familiar with the North East terrain, advocated recruitment of civilian intelligence officers for counter intelligence gathering in the area.
Besides, Williams said the military would need to re-strategise and put in place all the necessary structures to tackle the situation. “They may have to change commanders; let them do it. They may also need to negotiate with insurgents because the life of very Nigerian is important and the essence of the government is to protect life and property,” he said.
Williams believes that the war against Boko Haram insurgents is winnable. To defeat the insurgents, a coalition of civil society organisations has similarly called for increased recruitment process of applicants into the Nigerian Armed Forces. The Coalition of Civil Society Monitoring Groups on Insurgency in the North-East, which made the call, said, the recruitment had become necessary because the troops fighting Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East region would need more soldiers on the battle field.
Addressing a conference in Abuja, Sabo Odeh, secretary general of the coalition, said more troops on the field would help increase the performance of the soldiers fighting insurgence. Ode said: “Troops are needed to deal with secessionists that are making life unbearable for Nigerians in the Southeast, Niger Delta militants in the South-South, farmers-herders clashes on the Mambilla Plateau, kidnappers that are running riot on the highways.”
In any case, the US government is planning to train and provide technical support to personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to enhance its operations in the counter-terrorism campaign. Michael Bonner, senior police advisor at the US Embassy, stated this when he visited Ibrahim Abdullahi, the state NSCDC commandant in Maiduguri, on Tuesday, August 1.
Bonner said that such support had become necessary in view of the NSCDC’s contributions in promoting national security, especially in the protection of critical infrastructure. “Absolutely, when you talk about safety and security in Nigeria, the primary concern is the North-East, and the state that needs attention the most right now is Borno… We are also planning to train the NSCDC personnel on post-bomb blast investigation techniques. We have already put in place some courses that will run strictly for the NSCDC on critical infrastructure protection. The course is designed to train about 25 officers of the NSCDC who will also train other officers of the command, ’’ Bonner said.
With such an assistance and political will on the part of Nigerian government as well as the support of the military, it is believed that the defeat of Boko Haram will not be a mere posturing but real.
Tags: a self-proclaimed Islamic group Abayomi Olonisakin Attahir Ibrahim Boko Haram Borno State Insurgence led by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists group John Enenche Maiduguri Muhammadu Buhari National Petroleum Corporation NNPC The Return of Boko Haram Nightmare
