THE recent attacks on Adamawa and Borno States by Boko Haram insurgents are clear signals that a lot still needs to be done to rout the terrorists from the country. The incidents, which claimed many lives during the Yuletide, happened in quick succession a few days ahead of the deadline given to the military to defeat the insurgents by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It also came just as the government was celebrating what it called a ‘mission accomplished’ on the war against Boko Haram. The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had just told the world that the war against the sect had virtually been won when its members sprang a surprise attack which claimed about 15 lives in Kimba, a village in Biu Local Council of Borno State. The multiple bomb explosions in the community also razed many houses and shops. The attack on the farming community 150 kilometres South of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, shows that the state is yet to be freed from the onslaught of the terrorists.
On December 27, just two days later, suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked Adawari village, near Maiduguri metropolis, killing scores of people.
The worst of the attacks occurred on Monday, December 28, when Madagali Town in Adamawa State was overrun by the terrorists. Eyewitness accounts indicate that two female suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) near a motor park in the town, leaving about 50 persons dead and many more injured. Besides, another staccato of explosions in a Maiduguri mosque, same day, left about 20 people dead. Altogether, no fewer than 52 people were reported to have been killed in the Maiduguri attacks alone, and about 124 others critically injured.
All of these attacks have raised fresh apprehension among residents of these two troubled states and beyond. Their implication is that there are still formidable obstacles ahead and that the military’s claim that it has incapacitated the terrorists may not be exactly so.
On the contrary, the attacks may have exposed flaws in the strategies of the anti-insurgency operation in the North-East code-named “Operation Lafiya Dole.”
Rather than count their chickens before they are hatched as government and the military appear to have done ahead of the December 31, 2015 deadline set for an end to the insurgency, the military still needs to maintain a strong presence in the troubled Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States that appear to have become safe havens for the insurgents. New strategies need to be designed to secure these states against the terrorists who are always coming up with fresh tactics for their attacks.
There is no denying the fact that the military has recorded substantial achievements in the fight against Boko Haram in recent months. It has remarkably reduced the sect’s capacity to launch attacks on Nigerians. However, the lesson from the latest incidents is that even though its capacity to attack may have been degraded, its ability to lay ambush and unleash mayhem on soft targets has not been sufficiently diminished.
As we have advised before, victory over Boko Haram can only be achieved with the constant flow and use of intelligence, the strong determination of the government and the military to end the insurgency, and the cooperation of the people of the North-East and the entire country. These three are vital, because winning a war of this nature goes beyond conventional warfare tactics/strategies. Sharing of intelligence as well as availability of weapons and other equipment required for the war are very important. Terrorists should be denied access to bomb-making materials. This can be achieved by educating the public in the troubled states on the need to report suspicious persons to the security agencies. Proper coordination among the different security organisations is also critical.
Fresh tactics are required in the war against the insurgents as they appear to have ‘mastered’ the old ones. In the New Year, part of the strategies should include the introduction of shorter and simpler emergency numbers that the people can call to offer useful information and ask for help when attacked. The current numbers are too cumbersome to remember in actual emergency situations. The war against insurgency can be won much faster if the soldiers on the battlefield don’t rest on their current achievements.
The security agencies should also stretch their dragnets in search of the sponsors of Boko Haram and increase their efforts to rescue the Chibok girls who have been in captivity for 20 months now.
All in all, the resurgence of Boko Haram in spite of the relocation of the war command centre to Maiduguri, Borno State, means that we still need to do a lot more to put this insurgency behind us.
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