Boko Haram: The Twists and Turns

Nigeria’s counterterrorism battle in northeast Nigeria is a sad tale of twists and turns. Within close timelines, Nigerian forces are conquering the insurgents on different missions, and on the other hand, the jihadists are unleashing violence on communities in the three states of  Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. For example, according to news reports, Nigerian forces launched airstrikes on Boko Haram hideout a few days ago killing scores of terrorists. Also, last week, over 80 people were reportedly killed after insurgents attacked a village in Borno state. Another attack over the weekend reportedly left 20 soldiers and 40 civilians dead in the same state. A week ago, Nigeria\’s Chief of Amry Staff  (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai said that over 1000 terrorists have been killed within two months of counterterrorism missions. Going by these opposite events, how can Nigeria sustain its conquest of Boko Haram insurgents?

The multinational Joint Task Force(MJTF) should be reinvigorated. In April 2020, the Chadian President led a military mission of Chadian troops that saw to the conquest of several Boko Haram insurgents and reclaiming of territories hitherto occupied by the jihadists. The success of that mission prompted conflict experts to call for a more unified and purposeful MNJTF that will capitalise on the successes recorded. Unfortunately, the Chadian President Idris Derby later announced that Chadian forces will no longer take part in military missions outside Chad. This is also in line with the withdrawal of over a thousand soldiers in the Lake Chad region. According to President Derby, this is as a result of the weakness of the coalition among Boko Haram-affected countries and lack of commitment towards the war on terror. Arguably from the foregoing, the commitment of MNJTF member-states has waned. The presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon should in light of recent attacks come together to renew their commitment towards ending Boko Haram insurgency. Such efforts should include mobilisation of more troops and provision of sophisticated military gadgets to fight the jihadists. Also, member-countries should commit to collaborative military missions and intelligence sharing considering that the insurgents have adopted guerrilla warfare of hit-and-run that helped them to evade capture.

Furthermore, Nigerian service chiefs should review their war tactics and re-examine the reasons behind the frequency of attacks within the past month. The successes recorded against the jihadists have been ruined by retaliatory attacks on innocent Nigerians. Also, Nigeria cannot continue on a back and forth status of the war.  There should be renewed and sustained commitment towards ending the war.

Although like the rest of the world, Nigeria is battling a nationwide spread of  COVID-19 and state responses to manage the spread are capital intensive. However, the Nigerian government should see to the implementation of this year’s defence budget of N878.458 billion. The country cannot afford to backstep on the recent success recorded against the insurgents. The government should mobilise more troops to the region, provide more military equipment and engage in robust collaboration with the local population in information sharing. Importantly, government needs to seek an understanding of the renewed attacks by terrorists. This will help in the review of military tactics, and new efforts to effectively combat the menacing jihadists.