With the arrival of more equipment and deployment of Special Forces from Jaji to the war front, the Nigerian military is planning to launch a major ground and air offensive to flush out Boko Haram Islamists and reclaim lost territories in the North-east.
The planned offensive by the military coincided with President Goodluck Jonathan expressing confidence that with the implementation of the Niamey Agreement by neighbouring countries and Nigeria, the war against terrorism will be won.
Speaking to with the news men on the planned onslaught against the insurgents, a high-ranking military source said the present weakened morale of the terrorists was in stark contrast to that of the Nigerian security forces who have gained the upper hand in the last month, especially with the killing of top commanders of the sect.
The source revealed that the time was ripe to take out the terrorists who are already demoralised, adding that the Camerounian authorities, which hitherto had been reluctant to get involved in counter-terrorism effort, are now willing to cooperate with the Nigerian armed forces.
Investigations also revealed that the Boko Haram insurgents have increasingly come to the realisation that they cannot hold on to territories or defeat the Nigerian army in a conventional warfare and have thus reverted to the hit-and-run guerrilla tactics they are known for.
The military source explained that after the rapid success of another terror group – Islamic State (IS) – in gaining territories in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram had changed its tactics in Nigeria by focusing on capturing towns in the North-east with the ultimate goal of creating an Islamic Caliphate.
However, this, he said, had proved to be difficult to sustain as the tactic suited the Nigerian military, which has a reputation as one of the best conventional forces in Africa and has never lost any conventional warfare.
The source said: “The terrorists are already demoralised and weakened because the attacks they launch now does not last more than 30 minutes, unlike in the past.
All that they were showed in the recent video was just to boost their morale because that man (Shekau or his impostor) is already dead, so the video was meant to cover up their weakness. Even their isolated attacks now are feeble and they employ hit-and-run tactics. And with Cameroun cooperating, the army there is attacking, capturing and firing them.
Another intelligence source, while speaking on the planned offensive, disclosed that more Special Forces from Jaji had been redeployed to beef up what would be a ferocious and sustained land assault to eliminate the remnants of the terrorists.
Speaking further, the source said: “There is very heavy reinforcement going on and we will still reinforce some more, because as this man (Shekau) is dead and the Boko Haram boys are in disarray, we have to beef up to sustain the tempo.
The mood is very high in the camp and we are redeploying RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), other weapons and trained Special Forces from Jaji to the theatre of operation. The Special Forces have finished their training in Jaji and are being deployed to support the mission.
This is a total push and reoccupation of some last territories. So our plan is to chase them out of our territories. The intelligence report is that they still have their presence and are flying their flag in such places in some areas.
In a related development, the president yesterday expressed confidence that with the implementation of the Niamey Agreement by neighbouring countries and Nigeria, the war against terrorism would be won.
The agreement includes the intensification of joint patrols, military operations and intelligence sharing.
Jonathan said if the agreement reached with the countries’ leaders in Niamey last week, is implemented, the activities of the insurgents and other cross-border criminals would soon be drastically curtailed.
This was contained in a statement issued by the president's spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati.
Jonathan welcomed the Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs of Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin Republic who were in Abuja to work with their Nigerian counterparts on a legal framework for the cross-border military operations approved by him and the neighbouring heads of state in Niamey.
The president reiterated his belief that the collaboration was essential for success in the war against terrorism.
I am quite pleased with the decisions we took in Niamey to enhance and boost joint actions against Boko Haram and other cross-border criminals, because we have to work together to defeat Boko Haram and other extremist groups in our sub-region.
I believe that if we cooperate more and monitor our borders closely, the movement of criminals and terrorists as well as small arms and ammunition across our shared borders will also be drastically reduced,” Jonathan said.
The visiting ministers were accompanied to the Presidential Villa by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
The president stressed that with their collective experience and professionalism, he expected the visiting ministers and their Nigerian counterparts to come up with an effective action plan for the successful implementation of the decisions reached by the leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin Republic at their meeting in Niamey on October 7, 2014.
At that meeting, the leaders announced plans to step up the fight against Boko Haram. A communiqué issued after the meeting said a command centre for a multinational force headed by a chief of staff will be put in place by November 20.
The leaders also agreed to finalise the deployment of troops promised by member states to form the multinational force within their national borders by November 1.
The visiting ministers at the audience with President Jonathan were Niger’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohammed Bazoun, Cameroun’s Minister of External Relations, Mr. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, Chad’s Minister of Defence, Mr. Benaindo Tatola, Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Muossa Faki Mahamat, Niger’s Minister of Defence, Mr. K. Mahamadou, Benin’s Minister of Defence, Mr. Robert Yarou, Benin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Nassirou Bako Arifari and Cameroun’s Minister of Defence, Mr. Edgar Alain Debe Ngo'o,” the statement concluded.
The war against terrorism also got a further boost yesterday following the pledge by Cameroun’s President Paul Biya that his government would go after Boko Haram “until it is totally wiped out”.
The Camerounian government assures you that it will ceaselessly continue to fight Boko Haram until it is totally wiped out,” Biya was quoted by AFP as stating.
Twenty-seven Camerounians and Chinese, who had been held hostage for months by the sect, were delivered to authorities on Friday night.
The government has not said how they were freed, but a security source said that a ransom was paid and around 20 imprisoned Islamists were freed in exchange.
The Chinese were seized in May from a construction camp in Waza near the border with Nigeria in an attack that left one Camerounian soldier dead.
The Camerounians — including the wife of one of the country’s deputy prime ministers — were abducted in July during two simultaneous assaults, also blamed on Boko Haram, in which at least 15 people died.
We were in these sort of huts in a pretty dense forest, one of the released Cameroouians, Seiny Boukar Lamine, told state radio.
It was in a savannah with big trees and a lot of bush. We slept on the ground, he said. He said he was held along with his wife and six children.
Cameroun shares a border of more than 2,000 kilometres with Nigeria, where Boko Haram has been waging a bloody insurgency since 2009 in which some 13,000 people have died.
The Islamist group did not claim responsibility for the kidnappings, but it has been involved in other abductions, including that of over 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in a case that sparked international outrage.
Boko Haram’s forays into Cameroun have prompted the government to deploy soldiers and combat planes to the north of the country.
Last week, Cameroun, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria agreed to dispatch 700 soldiers to target the group.
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