The current upsurge in Boko Haram attacks in the northeast has again raised a lot of questions on the Nigerian military’s effectiveness in the prosecution of the ongoing operations to end the over ten years conflict. Recently, the attack in Auno, Maiduguri – Monguno road, Maiduguri – Damboa road and the attack on Faduma Kolomdi, a village in Gubio, which left 81 persons dead has generated much criticism on the way and manner the military operations in the northeast is being handled.
DAILY POST takes a look at the situation and speaks with few political actors, military authorities, sources in frontline and residents, who spoke their minds on why the fight may last beyond government’s claims of victory over Boko Haram and ISWAP ahead of the 11th year remembrance since the killing of the spiritual head of the Boko Haram, Muhammad Yusuf, in July 2009.
Speaking on the attack in Gubio, Amb. Ahmed Shehu, Coordinator of the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) told DAILY POST in Maiduguri that, “It is very sad news. It seems like we are going back to the old days when the insurgents engaged in killing and abducting soft targets in villages and along major roads.
“Of recent, Northern Borno roads have become no-go areas as the insurgents now mount roadblocks along the highway, screened commuters and kidnap humanitarian workers and those they think are essential to their operations.
“Last week, 5 people were kidnapped, among them was Abdurahman, a SEMA Camp Chairman in Monguno whose wedding day was fixed for last Sunday. He was abducted alongside 3 others. On Sunday, the route was again attacked and commuters were assembled and strategically engaged in video recording discussions by the insurgent for almost an hour.
“From the information available, civil servants and teachers’ documents were seized and later returned and about 4 people were abducted. There is an urgent need for the protection of vulnerable civilians and local aids workers because they have no option than to ply the route due to helicopters’ limited space.
“Based on information released by the security agencies, the insurgents are being destabilized and of course, they have to change strategies and tactics, hence soft targets now suffer the consequences. There is the need to engage the communities, protect the aid workers and ensure peace in the routes, especially in a moment like this. Let us not allow the successes we recorded to slip between our fingers,” he said.
An APC stakeholder in northern Borno, Alhaji Rabiu Sajo said, “It is rather sad that Boko Haram insurgents attack people and soldiers in Auno recently. I learned of an attack along the Maiduguri – Monguno road, the Maiduguri – Damboa road and the attack in Gubio village where 81 persons were reportedly killed.
According to him, this kind of warfare where insurgents come and attack people and run away is normal in a situation like this.
“The much-needed step is for citizens to make sacrifices by rallying round our military to give them all the support they need. This is the only way to win this war rather than glorifying attacks on innocent civilians.
“Our military under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General T.Y Buratai has made a lot of progress in the fight against insurgency in the northeast. The COAS has left his comfort zone and relocated to Maiduguri where he is fighting insurgency along with his soldiers. This is very rare in modern military operations.
“Since the relocation of the Army Chief to Maiduguri, we have read stories of successes in the ongoing clearance operation. What happened in the last few days is rather a show of weakness by the insurgents. We need our people to come together to support the military by identifying with its successes,” he said
Hon. Abdullahi Yunus, a politician said, “the Nigerian military has been bastardized. The security chiefs have over-stayed, a situation which may have informed some sort of sabotage in the military operations. I have confidence in the Nigerian military and I believe they have everything it takes to end the crises in the northeast. But I am not dismissing that there are saboteurs working to see that the war remains here for their benefits.”
He said, while there may be lack of synergy among top military commanders, incentives for soldiers fighting in the front ine needs to be looked into with utmost focus on transparency.
“We have heard this issue of incentives being said on papers, but if you ask a soldier, the story may shock you. And these soldiers also see what is happening with the families of their fallen colleagues. It is always not a good story when you have a one-on-one chat with soldiers, and they speak their minds,” he said.
Yunus also attributed porousness of the northern Borno to the increasing activities of Boko Haram as well as unfamiliarity of the terrain by the soldiers fighting.
A resident of Maiduguri, Malam Usman Al-amin told DAILY POST that, some of the attacks came because soldiers often fail to act when the villagers share information with them about the presence of insurgents around their communities.
” There is negligence on the part of security forces on information given to them by communities. They often do not act immediately and sometimes the information is leaked and the insurgents who have their spies among the community members will come and attack. We have heard such stories and it was about the same thing that happened in Gubio,” he said.
A source within the military has blamed the failure of soldiers to effectively and efficiently act accordingly in the clearance operations due to some administrative bottleneck on logistics for soldiers in the battlefield as well as lack of team spirit.
“Sometimes we blame our ogas’ who out of their selfishness delay reinforcement whenever there is an attack on our bases. At times, when we came under fire, helicopter that is supposed to come immediately will tell you they are waiting for refueling. Some of the commanders are also fighting themselves and it affects our operations. The soldiers also fear reporting a senior officers’ laxity because at the end, the soldier will be punished. So, there are a lot of issues going on, which informed the setback and information leakages is key,” He said.
However, Col. Sagir Musa, the Acting Director, Army Public Relations observed that there could leakages of information in the ongoing military operations in the northeast to have informed some of the attacks on soldiers’ movement.
“A lot has been said on the leakages of information. Efforts, however, are on to checkmate it. Intelligence and Military Police as well as Operations Commanders are doing a lot to halt the ugly trend,” he said.
Col. Sagir also said that Soldiers’ confidence is built through constant training in anti-ambush drills at the Hq Theatre Comd. OPLD, also at the sector level.
“Similarly, there is need to equip the troops more with mines sweepers, modern personal automatic weapons, swift casualty evacuation, good welfare packages, medicals …etc,” he said.
