Nigerian military versus Boko Haram  By: Aminu Ahmed

 After nine years of the fight against Boko Haram, can we Nigerians say in all honesty that we have won the battle? Can we at this stage even have the conscience to say we are winning the war?
 
Government officials, led by our Commander-in-Chief, himself a retired General, have told us that Boko Haram has been defeated, albeit technically. If the word, “technically” is a political talk as we know politicians to do, then it has created a very false impression of hope for the people, especially the people in parts of the North East that are ravaged by the insurgents. Again, the claim by the government that Boko Haram does not control territories can be rightly punctured by these simple questions – do the insurgents keep the large number of their kidnapped hostages in the air? Do they keep their large arms and armoury with which they could overrun an Army unit like Metele in the air too? All those armoured cars they use every time, can such be suspended in the air and made invisible to human eyes or to the satellite?
 
Until the recent attack on the Metele Army unit, Nigerians have been bamboozled by the official boast that Boko Haram could only hit soft targets. Not only are the military barracks falling to Boko Haram, the wool is being pulled out of the eyes of the long-deceived Nigerians. A government official, an elected parliamentarian has openly faulted the claim that Boko Haram has been degraded and the North East has been rid of the militants to the extent that there is no inch of Nigerian soil being controlled by the insurgents. This is what HonSani Mohammed, a member of the House of Representatives, himself a Northerner, told the House of Representatives, “I just returned from an oversight function in Borno and Yobe states and I can say that the description of the North eastern part of Nigeria that is under siege as described by my colleague is an understatement. The Northern part of the country is failing. Actually, it has failed in most part of it. And my fear is that it would have a contagious effect on other parts of the country. There is no doubt about this.
 
“Upon arrival in Maiduguri, Boko Haram launched an attack on an IDP camp called Dalori 2, just opposite the University of Maiduguri. They burnt down a substantial part of the camp, killed eight people and abducted women and ran into the bush unchallenged. We went to Bama. Bama is the second most important town in Borno state and an exit to three countries, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. There are no more than two hundred persons in Bama today.
 
“The talk of safety being restored, normality being restored is false. It is a lie and not correct. Before you can be escorted to those places I talked about, you need not less than a platoon of soldiers and the soldiers themselves in spite of all the encouragement we give them, they are not confident. I wonder that my colleagues are not painting this picture on the floor of the parliament. We had to sleep over in Damaturu with only what we had on our body until the following day when we were escorted by soldiers. Part of the plan was to visit Chibok. Chibok is a no go area. Only three days earlier, they attacked and invaded a village next to where the Chief of Army Staff hails from, killed people and ran out of the village unchallenged. The fact of the matter is that these insurgents are in charge of certain territories like Abadam, Ngala, Kala/Balge local governments. All these are being administered by the insurgents.”
 
If you know Bama town, and the report of the situation of the City as painted by the Hon Mohammed, you will weep for this nation. It used to be the busiest city in Borno State, occasioned by heavy trading activities including smuggling of goods into Cameroun, Chad, etc. Indeed, Borno State is finished. The case of Chibok is very pathetic. Recall that this Town came to international limelight following the kidnapping of over 200 school girls from Government Secondary School there. Majority of the kidnapped students are indigenes of Chibok. Many of those taken away by the insurgents have not been released and even the lucky ones that were released came home as emotional/psychological wrecks because they were mostly used as sex slaves by dirty lunatics who on a normal social plane would not have the courage to come near them, talk less of touching them. The students and their parents are still going through this mental torture and yet cannot get a sound sleep or rest of mind till date due to recurring attacks from Boko Haram.
 
Even agriculture is suffering from Boko Haram violence. Every local government area in Borno and Yobe States, with the exception of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and perhaps Damaturu Local Government Area (the two State capitals) is a farmland. For more than seven years, Boko Haram had effectively disrupted farming in the two States and in the process disrupted the lives of the people. They are now burning down farmlands of those suspected of collaborating with them. Such disruption effectively makes almost everybody there an IDP, whether he/she in a camp or not. Substantial level of this agony is also borne by Adamawa State people who have come under continuous attack by Boko Haram militants.
 
 
With the continued assaults on military bases on the North East by Boko Haram, knowledgeable persons on War, Security and Defence matters are now, more than ever, raising serious doubts on the capacity of the Nigerian state to win this war against the enemy without new thinking and new direction. Akinola Olojo, Senior Researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime, Institute of Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria, says that the government’s response each time there is an upsurge in terrorist violence was to reorganize its key military leadership in the troubled North East, a strategy it stated “appears largely cosmetic. The game changer is more likely to come from dealing with several blind spots in the military’s approach to Boko Haram.
 
“Altering military commanders each time there’s a problem has been tried before, with little impact on the counter-terrorism effort. Over the last two years, leadership has changed on four occasions. This time the most significant reshuffle was of the Theatre Commander overseeing the campaign against Boko Haram. The new head of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Abba Dikko, replaced Major General Rogers Nicholas who occupied the position for less than a year. Beyond leadership, three top concerns undermine the army’s current position.
 
“First, the military must investigate why a number of its bases have suffered attacks in close succession. Second, the use of intelligence must be deepened to include closer collaboration with local community actors who are familiar with the terrain in which Boko Haram operates. Third, the grievances of soldiers must be addressed to improve morale.
 
“In addition to military targets, Boko Haram has launched deadly assaults on civilians. The extremist group’s offensives have been relatively sophisticated – probably executed by the faction of Boko Haram led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi who has a penchant for targeting the military. Nigeria’s Army needs to investigate whether these attacks are the result of weak security at its bases, or because of Boko Haram’s growing strength and tactical advantage.
 
“The new military commander faces longstanding challenges when it comes to intelligence. While the rights of ordinary citizens must be safeguarded, the problem posed by Boko Haram’s spies within communities should be recognised. More than ever, this issue merits attention in light of recent revelations by apprehended members of Boko Haram. Some of these individuals infiltrate townships under the guise of various professions, like taxi drivers. Countering this is not easy, as the challenge of dealing with al-Shabaab and its ‘Mata Hari’ spy network involving sex workers in Kenya showed.
 
“A closer working relationship is needed between the military and civilian groups who can provide critical information about Boko Haram’s tactics. The Nigerian army realised this back in 2013 when it started working with the Civilian Joint Task Force, a network of vigilante groups supporting the security forces against Boko Haram. More of such alliances are needed, with a wider range of local actors, including Islamic clerics.
 
“To consolidate military gains, grievances among troops on the ground must be attended to. Part of the solution lies in dialogue to understand concerns of those on the battlefront. For instance, some units lament the delays in getting weapons and supplies when their detachments are under attack. Regrettably, these have been met with warnings by the authorities against soldiers accused of abandoning their posts when faced with insurgents.
 
“Threatening battle-worn troops is counter-productive and echoes past mistakes. At the height of the Boko Haram insurgency in mid-2014, troops staged a mutiny and fired at the vehicle of an army major general. In August this year, soldiers protested at the Maiduguri airport in Borno state. The latest demonstration was over unjust redeployment and overextended periods of battle on the frontlines.
 
“The boldness of Boko Haram to strike military targets will gain traction as the group discerns cracks in the Nigerian army’s approach. With the emergence of a Boko Haram faction that targets the military, creative solutions will be needed that go beyond replacing army commanders. The extremist group is less concerned about who leads the Nigerian army’s efforts than about exploiting the army’s vulnerabilities”, Olojo insisted.
 
Nigerian must face the reality that the war is not over. Government officials must not dish out fake news to Nigerians on the war situation just to make the Government look good. The US Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker, has reported that more than 37,500 people had been killed since May 2011 and about 2.4 million people displaced in the Lake Chad Basin. Also, more than 228,000 Nigerian refugees now live in camps as Internally Displaced Persons’. These sufferings caused by Boko Haram does not call for deceitful postures by government officials or any sickening silence whenever the terrorists attacks military bases and kill soldiers in large numbers. The ongoing electioneering campaigns must not make the Federal Government to suppress reports of attacks against our soldiers. The reports should be used to marshal the needed public support for the war against Boko Haram. Otherwise we may wake up one morning and discover that Boko Haram had taken back territories it was pushed out from in the first quarter of 2015. God forbid.
Aminu Ahmed wrote from Abuja