The Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, on Wednesday said that the infiltration of foreign mercenaries in the joint operations area has significantly escalated the threat posed by terrorist groups.
Specifically, Abubakar said the foreign mercenaries facilitate tactical and strategic training for these terrorists, leading to the use of drones in the theatre, revealing that four Pakistani nationals are involved in arms running with the terrorists.
He added that the recent development of armed drones for attacks and surveillance on troops potentially illustrates the refinement of the terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures by mercenaries, advanced improvised explosive device fabrication and placement of public traps.
“The growing influence of these mercenaries is evident in the terrorists’ increasingly coordinated assets, resulting in higher casualties among troops and greater equipment losses.
“This alarming trend calls for an immediate coordinated response, including intensified intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations, as well as strong collaboration between Nigeria and neighbouring nations to disrupt the crossborder support network,” Abubakar said.
According to him, the Boko Haram/ Islamic States West African Province terrorists were not waging war against the armed forces but against Nigeria.
He said the war against insurgency was an asymmetric warfare that was difficult to fight, urging the media to treat terrorism as a war against the nation.
The theatre commander said troops had continued to make sacrifices to ensure that communities affected by the activities of Boko Haram/ISWAP were stabilised.
He added that the military had also ensured that human rights were upheld in all the lines of operation where they needed to carry out military action.
“We have our troops here in the field spreading to different locations during these harsh weather conditions, which can rapidly become very cold at night.
“So, there are heroes, and I tell you, we will do well to appreciate them occasionally, and the only way to do that is through the media.
“These are also Nigerians and it is not the terrorists against the armed forces; it is the terrorists against Nigeria as a nation,’’ he said.
The Chief of Staff, Operation Hadin Kai, Brig.-Gen. Adamu Ibrahim, explaining why terrorists’ wives were not being killed or prosecuted, said that Nigeria was a signatory to the international law of armed conflict.
Ibrahim said the law explicitly protects combatants who are no longer actively participating in the fighting, as well as women and children.
According to the chief of staff, Boko Haram are Nigerian citizens and are fully eligible to have wives and children.
“As long as their wives and children do not take up arms and engage in direct combat operations, then they are not Boko Haram combatants.
“The Nigerian military fully enforces and upholds human rights laws, and as such, we would not violate the laws against Boko Haram by engaging their families,” he said.
