Nigeria Army Routs Boko Haram Fighters, Rescues More Abducted Girls From Sambisa Forest

For the third day in a row, Nigerian troops battling Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram have rescued more girls, women and children abducted by the insurgents and kept in Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

A press statement just released by Major-General Chris Olukolade, a military spokesman at Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters in Abuja, disclosed that soldiers “have commenced operations deep into the Sambisa forest after sustained aerial bombardments by the Nigerian Air Force.” The statement revealed that the main objective was “to decimate and clear the terrorists from the forest which is their last bastion.”

General Olukolade added that the coordinated operation was already yielding results, with the rescue of 200 girls and 93 women formerly held by the Islamist militants. “Over 13 terrorists camps, including the notorious Tokumbere camp in Sambisa forest, have been captured. Other camps overran and destroyed by troops include Wulari Bukar, Gangala, Anguwar Bakwai, Jigide, Kotorima, Lagura Bello, Lagina Fulani,” the statement disclosed.

The Nigerian military spokesman also told reporters that numerous field commanders and foot soldiers belonging to the terrorist group had been killed in the ongoing operation. According to him, Nigerian troops destroyed some armored personnel carriers, Buffalo vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns, a truck and several Hilux vehicles.

Nigerian troops have so far captured some anti-aircraft guns, general-purpose machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and AK 47 rifles from the fleeing insurgents.

“Unfortunately though, we lost one soldier in the course of the operation while 10 others have so far been wounded,” said the army general.

Since more than 200 women and girls were rescued from the dreaded Sambisa forest, global attention has focused on whether some of the rescued girls were part of the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014. So far, according to the military, the task of determining the identity of the rescued women has not been completed.

General Olukolade noted that the “true identity of some of the rescued women and girls are yet to be ascertained,” adding that the priority for now was to move all the rescued women and girls to a conducive place “where they are now undergoing thorough profiling to verify their true identity, where they come from, how they found themselves in the forest, etc.”

He stated that more persons were still being recovered from the forest. “Until such comprehensive profiling is done, nobody can confirm whether they are among the Chibok girls or not,” said Mr. Olukolade.

He added: “Whoever they may be, the important thing is that Nigerians held captive under very severe and inhuman condition have been freed by our gallant troops. The joy and sense of hope being expressed by many Nigerians on hearing about the rescue operation is therefore understandable. We would like to reassure them that the momentum of this operation will be sustained until that Sambisa forest is comprehensively cleaned out and all Nigerians held captive within the bowels of the forest are rescued.  There is great hope for the recovery of more hostages of the terrorists.”

The militant spokesman asserted, “the dislodged and disorganized terrorists are in flight [in] different directions and running helter-skelter in the expansive forest. There is no longer any respite or sanctuary for them; they will be pursued and tracked down not minding the daunting challenges in the mission including hundreds of land mines and difficult terrain of the Sambisa forest.

“It should be noted however that the essence of this operation is not to kill everybody in sight. We encourage any of the combatants who is desirous to surrender to come out, as the forest will no more be tenable as a haven for their activities.  In the same vein, innocent civilians among those in flight are also encouraged to report themselves to the troops.  We will continue to treat civilians in the most professional and humane way.

“We thank all Nigerians for their continued prayers and support and assure them that Never Again shall forces of darkness reign supreme in our country.”

IS SHEKAU DEAD

The news coming from Northern Nigeria in the
past few days has been very cheery. Media
reports from the Military High Command indicate
that a senior Boko Haram member likely to be an
imitation of the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau,
might have died during a confrontation in
Konduga, Borno State. Lately, it has been one
sobering humiliation after another as the Nigerian
military battle fiercely to repel the advancing
Boko Haram insurgents. First, it was Gwoza, a
border town about 135 kilometres southeast of
Maiduguri, where the insurgents reportedly
sacked all the military formations including a
Police Training College. The terrorists later
occupied the town, hoisted their flag and
proceeded to declare their caliphate. From
Gwoza, they gradually advanced to the next town
known as Bama, which is about 60 kilometres to
Maiduguri the state capital. They attacked and
successfully occupied it. The battle in Bama was
very strategic for the insurgents as they
reportedly sacked the Emir and appointed a new
one. They also took over the Bama Prisons and
captured and imprisoned some locals who refused
to obey their directives.
The capture of these two local government areas
bolstered the confidence of the terrorists and
emboldened them as they continued to chant
songs of victory in jubilation around the town. It
was in Bama that the insurgents attempted a
change in strategy to see if they could enhance
their acceptability and legitimacy within the
communities. They began to break into shops and
allow the local people to collect food items for
free. They also took over some of the houses that
had boreholes and allowed the community
members to collect water for free. However, many
of the community members continued to be
fearful and suspicious of the insurgents.
From Bama, they proceeded to Konduga with full
confidence. The Local Government Area is about
25 kilometres to Maiduguri on the bank of
Ngadda River. In fact, part of the area covered by
the University of Maiduguri falls into the territory
of this local government area. With Gwoza and
Bama fully in the hands of the insurgents, it is
likely that the plan of the insurgents was to
capture Konduga and then use it as a base to
launch an attack on Maiduguri. However, that
was not to be. On their way to Konduga, the
insurgents ran into a calculated ambush of
soldiers who levelled them. The casualty figures
were heavy on the side of the insurgents. In fact,
in one of the videos that shot by the locals,
corpses of the insurgents littered the streets and
farmlands. Community members were seen
raining curses at the corpses of the insurgents.
Before they could consolidate their grip on Bama,
the revelations of the Australian "negotiator", Dr.
Stephen Davies, hit the media and triggered
some finger pointing among politicians. It will be
interesting to find out the level of impact this had
on the success or failure of the insurgents lately.
Another interesting part of what may be an
unfolding drama is that since the insurgency
started, this is probably the first time that the
military successfully ambushed the insurgents.
How come? The pictures from the videos indicate
that Boko Haram is still the same rag-tag group of
ill-trained young men. How have they been
managing to defeat a well-trained Nigerian Army
up to the point that they had to beat a "tactical
manoeuvre" twice into the Republic of Cameroon?
What has changed suddenly?
Another fact that is noteworthy is that many
residents of Maiduguri were jubilant as soon as
they sighted the soldiers indicating that they
were happy with the victory. This suggests that it
is likely that ordinary citizens and Nigerian
soldiers may be in agreement on the need to
eradicate the Boko Haram insurgency. What may
yet be unclear to many observers is the
disposition of senior military officers to this goal.
Who could be jeopardising or even sabotaging the
efforts of these soldiers? Who are those who
issued those conflicting orders that led to many
causalities on the side of the military? What about
the reported withdrawal of soldiers a few hours
before the arrival of the insurgents? How valid are
the complaints that our military is less equipped
than the insurgents and who is to be held
responsible? What about those who allegedly
count rounds of ammunition and give to soldiers
in cellophane bags in a way that put them at risk
and lower their morale? When will a
comprehensive inquiry be done into the probable
reasons that pushed those convicted soldiers
from Giwa Barracks to attempt mutiny even
though they knew that death is the
consequence? It is obvious that the insurgents
are not sophisticated. However, it appears that
they allegedly have possible channels of sensitive
information which they leverage on coupled with
a terrain advantage. It is clearly evident that the
insurgents do not have superior tactics. It
appears the ground is prepared for them perhaps
by some unscrupulous collaborators somewhere
in the crowd.
A clear pattern that is beginning to emerge to
discerning minds that unlike other insurgencies
like the Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Hamas in Palestine
and Talibans in Pakistan, Boko Haram has neither
acceptability nor trust in communities where it
operates. Its new strategy to rebuild legitimacy in
Bama suffered a setback. This legitimacy deficit
may turn out to be its greatest undoing and
should make its defeat and ultimate annihilation
relatively easy. The attack on the rural market in
Mainok suggests that the fighters have now
become hungry with very limited food supplies. If
such a blockade is a deliberate effort, then it
should be sustained as hungry and thirsty
insurgents are likely to have low morale and
surrender faster. Intelligence gathering should be
strengthened in collaboration with embedded
community members. After the second defeat in
Konduga the morale of these fighters might have
been terrified and demoralised. The
bombardment from the military should continue
ceaselessly at such a time. If possible, all the
borders between Cameroon and Nigeria should be
blocked temporarily to ensure that the insurgents
do not escape into their country. In between the
questions raised above and the suggestions
offered, one is confident that the end of Boko
Haram insurgency may not be far away.
Insinuations that the insurgents have the
capacity to fight for another 45 years is a fallacy.
It is not surprising that as they are about settling
down to establish their caliphate and attack
Maiduguri, they are simply throwing themselves
open for a sucker punch. Kudos to our military.
This cup will soon pass us by.