By Gambo Dori
This is a question many have been asking these last few days while contemplating the deadly attacks the Boko Haram insurgents have been unleashing on communities in Borno and Yobe states. As I write today, the smoke of the attacks on Dikwa, Gajibo and Mafa in Borno State and Katarko in Yobe State is yet to clear from the ruins that the catastrophic attacks resulted in. These are attacks, reportedly coordinated and explicitly directed at military barracks in the said towns, leaving in their wake lots of destruction and the loss of personnel and a lot of military hardware.
Though the insurgents were successfully repelled, the Boko Haram assaults clearly indicated the increasing doubts about the capability
This is worrisome, as it is clear that the insurgents can now coordinate attacks simultaneously from both the Sambisa Forest and the shores of Lake Chad of the armed forces to protect the lives and properties of the communities of the two states. In the few weeks before the attacks on Dikwa, Gajibo, Mafa and Katarko, Boko Haram insurgents had been on a rampage in other spots in the two states.
In early September, they unleashed one of their deadliest attacks ever on Darul Jamal, a village in Bama Local Government. The inhabitants of the town had spent a decade or more as IDPs in Bama town and had just been resettled by the Borno State Government when the attack occurred. Sixty civilians and five soldiers were killed in the attack.
Later in the same month, the insurgents attacked Banki, a border town in Bama Local Government, which is shared between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon. When the insurgents arrived, they were reported to have overrun the town and gained access to overwhelm the military barracks situated there. The commanding officer, along with some of his soldiers, had to withdraw and take refuge in Cameroon. The insurgents had a field day, causing mayhem in the barracks and making off with a large consignment of ammunition and weapons. Pictures of the destruction they caused have been widely displayed across many media outlets.
In early October, the insurgents turned their attention to Kirewa, another border town in Gwoza Local Government. At Kirewa, the insurgents, as the norm now, targeted the barracks, causing a lot of destruction and stealing a cache of ammunition and weapons. They also burnt the palace of the District Head, Abdulrahman Abubakar, forcing him to flee along with hundreds of his citizens and take refuge in the Cameroun Republic.
A few days later, the insurgents attacked Ngamdu, a town on the Damaturu-Maiduguri Highway. During the attack on Ngamdu, five of our gallant soldiers lost their lives, and another five were injured. The attack was reported to be sophisticated, using rocket-propelled grenades, armed drones and improvised explosive devices targeting military personnel and vehicles. A few days later, the insurgents laid an ambush on our troops in the Kashimri area of Bama, where the Commanding Officer of 202 Tank Battalion, Lt Col. Aliyu Sa’idu Paiko, paid the supreme price along with some other gallant soldiers. The Nigerian soldiers were killed while repelling an attack by the insurgents.
In the space of a few weeks in September and October, one can see that the Boko Haram insurgents are back in the business of creating havoc. The attacks on Katarko and Ngamdu obviously emanated from the Sambisa Forest, including those targeting the border areas of Gwoza and the Bama axis. However, the attack on Dikwa and Mafa was reportedly carried out from the Marte area, and it can be inferred that it came from the insurgents’ bases on the shores of Lake Chad. This is worrisome, as it is clear that the insurgents can now coordinate attacks simultaneously from both the Sambisa Forest and the shores of Lake Chad.
More worrisome are the attacks on Mafa and Ngamdu, due to their strategic proximity to Maiduguri and their location on a crucial highway artery. Ngamdu is on the 100-kilometre highway from Maiduguri to Damaturu, which leads to other parts of Nigeria. Mafa, on the other hand, is 40 kilometres away from Maiduguri to Gamboru, the border town with Cameroon, leading to the outlets to Chad, Central Africa, Sudan, etc. Attacks on these two towns are not only inimical to the safety of Maiduguri but also detrimental to the region’s commercial activities.
Far more worrisome is the novel use of armed drones by the insurgents in the attacks. We are now dealing with insurgents who have advanced to the next level in acquiring one of the latest military equipment. This poses a grave concern to the ongoing warfare in that region and other parts of the country. I am therefore not surprised by the level of concern expressed by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, who drew the attention of the federal government to the dangers posed by armed drones to national security.
In all these recent attacks, it seems our troops are becoming sitting ducks for the insurgents to take potshots at. Will it not be reasonable to suggest that our troops need to organise some sorties into the enclaves of these insurgents to degrade or clear them entirely? This ding-dong struggle is getting too long and despairing for the endurance of this beleaguered region.
Gambo Dori can be reached at gambodori@dailytrust.com, 07083532912 (Text only)
