The fresh Boko Haram attacks

THE recent attacks on Adamawa and Borno
States by Boko Haram insurgents are clear
signals that a lot still needs to be done to
rout the terrorists from the country. The
incidents, which claimed many lives during
the Yuletide, happened in quick succession
a few days ahead of the deadline given to
the military to defeat the insurgents by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
It also came just as the government was
celebrating what it called a ‘mission ac­
complished’ on the war against Boko Ha­
ram. The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, had just told the world that
the war against the sect had virtually been
won when its members sprang a surprise
attack which claimed about 15 lives in
Kimba, a village in Biu Local Council of
Borno State. The multiple bomb explosions
in the community also razed many houses
and shops. The attack on the farming
community 150 kilometres South of
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, shows
that the state is yet to be freed from the
onslaught of the terrorists.
On December 27, just two days later,
suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked
Adawari village, near Maiduguri metropolis,
killing scores of people.
The worst of the attacks occurred on
Monday, December 28, when Madagali
Town in Adamawa State was overrun by
the terrorists. Eyewitness accounts indicate
that two female suicide bombers detonated
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) near a
motor park in the town, leaving about 50
persons dead and many more injured.
Besides, another staccato of explosions in a
Maiduguri mosque, same day, left about 20
people dead. Altogether, no fewer than 52
people were reported to have been killed in
the Maiduguri attacks alone, and about 124
others critically injured.
All of these attacks have raised fresh
apprehension among residents of these two
troubled states and beyond. Their
implication is that there are still formidable
obstacles ahead and that the military’s
claim that it has incapacitated the terrorists
may not be exactly so.
On the contrary, the attacks may have
exposed flaws in the strategies of the anti-
insurgency operation in the North-East
code-named “Operation Lafiya Dole.”
Rather than count their chickens before
they are hatched as government and the
military appear to have done ahead of the
December 31, 2015 deadline set for an end
to the insurgency, the military still needs to
maintain a strong presence in the troubled
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States that
appear to have become safe havens for the
insurgents. New strategies need to be
designed to secure these states against the
terrorists who are always coming up with
fresh tactics for their attacks.
There is no denying the fact that the
military has recorded substantial
achievements in the fight against Boko
Haram in recent months. It has remarkably
reduced the sect’s capacity to launch
attacks on Nigerians. However, the lesson
from the latest incidents is that even
though its capacity to attack may have
been degraded, its ability to lay ambush
and unleash mayhem on soft targets has
not been sufficiently diminished.
As we have advised before, victory over
Boko Haram can only be achieved with the
constant flow and use of intelligence, the
strong determination of the government and
the military to end the insurgency, and the
cooperation of the people of the North-East
and the entire country. These three are
vital, because winning a war of this nature
goes beyond conventional warfare tactics/
strategies. Sharing of intelligence as well as
availability of weapons and other
equipment required for the war are very
important. Terrorists should be denied
access to bomb-making materials. This can
be achieved by educating the public in the
troubled states on the need to report
suspicious persons to the security agencies.
Proper coordination among the different
security organisations is also critical.
Fresh tactics are required in the war
against the insurgents as they appear to
have ‘mastered’ the old ones. In the New
Year, part of the strategies should include
the introduction of shorter and simpler
emergency numbers that the people can
call to offer useful information and ask for
help when attacked. The current numbers
are too cumbersome to remember in actual
emergency situations. The war against
insurgency can be won much faster if the
soldiers on the battlefield don’t rest on their
current achievements.
The security agencies should also stretch
their dragnets in search of the sponsors of
Boko Haram and increase their efforts to
rescue the Chibok girls who have been in
captivity for 20 months now.
All in all, the resurgence of Boko Haram in
spite of the relocation of the war command
centre to Maiduguri, Borno State, means
that we still need to do a lot more to put
this insurgency behind us.