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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPlease, note that Israelis helped the Chadians with the\nmapping of the entire Lake Chad region before the commencement of the Operation\nWrath of Boma. The Israelis also provided air and land technical support to the\nChadians. Back home, our leaders are too proud to seek assistance from Israel.\nDeby has shown that the terrorists can be defeated. Again, the arms and\nammunitions seized from the terrorists were largely those they stole when they\nsacked a number of Nigerian military formations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After clearing the Lake Chad borderlands, the Chadian\nsoldiers waited endlessly for Nigerian soldiers to come and take charge. They\nare still waiting for Nigeria troops to take charge of Damasak, in Mobbar Local\nGovernment Area of Borno State. As at press time, there was no evidence that\nNigeria had done the needful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also no evidence that terrorists fleeing into\nNigeria following the strikes by Chad had been pinned and killed by Nigerian\nsoldiers. I wish this Chadians will continue deep into Nigeria and end this\nmadness called Boko Haram. Our gallant soldiers are constrained by so many\nfactors, top of which is a failed political and military leadership; a\npolitical leadership lacking the will to combat terrorism and a military\nleadership that wants the war to continue. As long as the war is on, they are\nin business. There is also a war business in Borno and Yobe states, managed by\ntop Nigerian commanders. Traders pay heavily to move goods in and out of the\ntheatre of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The big boys in the military care less about the unending\nwar and the hundreds of Nigerian soldiers killed needlessly. This is why they\nare always very happy to say that the terrorists \u201chave been technically\ndefeated\u201d and that no Nigerian territory \u201cis under the control of Boko Haram.\u201d\nWhile they continue to chant these prickly statements, the graveyards of our\nsoldiers in the North-east grow. I will never forget one of the deadliest\nmassacres of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram in Metele, Borno State, in\nNovember 2018. Scores of soldiers were killed at 157 Task Force Battalion in\nMetele. The exact casualty figure is still a closely-guided secret. The\ncommander of the battalion, Lt. Col. Ibrahim Sakaba was also killed during the\nattack. I thought the military will go after the terrorists with venom. Nothing\nhappened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the last five years, Boko Haram have attacked and sacked\n25 military posts, killing hundreds of Nigerian soldiers. Some of the sacked\nmilitary posts were in Gajiram, Mainok, Rann, Geidam, Sasawa, Magumeri, Malam\nFatori, Gashigha, Kanama, Gamboru-Ngala, Mafa, Damasak, Gudumbali, Garunda,\nKunduga, Kareto, Jilli, Arge, Zari, Arege, Metele and Buni Gari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior officers have also been mauled by Boko Haram without\nretaliation by the military. Some of those killed were Lt. Colonel O. Umusu,\nLt. Colonel K Yusuf, Lt. Colonel Abu Ali, Lt. Colonel B. U. Umar, Captain\nVictor Ulasi, Lt Col Yusuf Aminu, Group Lt. Col. A E Mamudu and Lt. Col.\nAzubuike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A technically defeated Boko Haram keeps thrashing our\nsoldiers and military formations. The unending lies make me sick. Just few\nweeks back, the spokesman of the Defence Headquarters, Brigadier General Onyema\nNwachukwu, continued this garbage, while countering Governor Babagana Zulum of\nBorno State\u2019s avowal that Boko Haram terrorists control three local government\nareas in the state. Nwachukwu speciously dismissed Zulum\u2019s call on the military\nto recapture the affected local governments, saying, \u201cno Nigerian territory is\nunder the control of terrorist groups \u2013 Boko Haram and ISWAP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nwachukwu was countering Zulum, who as governor, gets\nundiluted information from all the nooks and crannies of his state. Zulum would\nlove to govern and access all local governments in Borno State in conformity\nwith his mandate. So, he has no business with turning the truth on its head.\nThe governor, who listed the local government areas controlled by Boko Haram as\nMarte, Kukawa and Abadam, challenged the military authorities to reclaim the\nseized territories from the terrorists. This is the truth the military must\nrespond to appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The governor courageously made his assertions in the\npresence of the Defence Minister, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd); the Chief\nof Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal\nAbubakar Sadique. Thousands of people displaced from Marte, Kukawa and Abadam,\nby Boko Haram are now in IDP camps, unable to return to their homes. Auno, a\nsettlement located on the major road leading to Maiduguri is one other\ncommunity exposed to attacks. The terrorists have struck here six times in the\nlast 10 months, killing scores of people. The attack few weeks back was most\nbrutal, with Boko Haram killing 30 people and abducted many women and children\nin a late night raid on blameless people waiting to cross into Maiduguri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lies, lies and unending lies. This is the biggest drawback\nto the war against Boko Haram. As I pen this piece, there are over 700,000\ntraumatised people in 33 IDP camps in Borno State. These people can\u2019t return\nhome because their towns and villages are under the control of the terrorists.\nI wonder why these hapless persons would choose to remain in dehumanising\ncamps, if their towns and villages were safe. In these IDP camps, people\nstruggle for a meal a day, while scores die daily of hunger, disease and\nmalnutrition. Zulum was right when he told General Magashi that keeping\nthousands of people in IDP camps with no source of livelihood \u201cis like building\nmaterial for Boko Haram on recruitment missions in villages.\u201d Borno State is\nfacing an unprecedented mess, with 22 of its 27 local governments either fully\nor partially controlled by the terrorists. Aid agencies can\u2019t access many local\ngovernments in Borno. Thousands of people are also living in squalid conditions\nin Borno IDP camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the hopeless responses of Army Chief, Tukur Buratai,\nto the unending attacks by Boko Haram was the creation of his so-called \u201cSuper\nCamps\u201d. It is an imprudent strategy, under which small army camps were\nwithdrawn from several areas and combined into fewer larger bases. This\nhappened early last year. The result has been tragic, as it helped the\nterrorists to gain more grounds, thus, increasing the pummeling of innocent\nNigerians and soldiers. This baloney is obviously not working. His balderdash\nSuper Camps have brought more pain on Nigerians living in the war zone. There\nshould be a pragmatic tactical committee working with those implementing this\nwar against Boko Haram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Buhari assumed power in 2015 with a pledge to\nexterminate the terrorists. Almost five years down the line, this country has\ngone deeper into this mess, with the terrorists gaining more strength. Billions\nof U.S. Dollars have gone down the drain for purchase of equipment for the\nmilitary, yet the soldiers are persistently complaining about being poorly\nequipped. Buhari should be prepared to answer pertinent questions regarding\nthis faltering war: Why is our military poorly equipped and poorly motivated?\nHow much equipment has he procured for them in the last four years? Where is\nthe evidence? What have we achieved with all the billions of USD released for\nequipment? Why are we not hiring foreign military experts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No doubt, our soldiers are struggling to contain the rebels\nbecause they are poorly motivated and poorly equipped. It is so depressing\nhearing stories of soldiers on the war front being owed field allowances. Army\nChief, Tukur Buratai, recently rubbed salt on the injuries of these gallant\nofficers and soldiers when he accused those involved in the anti-insurgency war\nof indiscipline and lacking commitment. He added: \u201cIt is unfortunate but the\ntruth is that almost every setback the Nigeria Army has had in our operations\nin recent times can be traced to insufficient willingness to perform assigned\ntasks or simply insufficient commitment to a common national\/military course by\nthose at the frontlines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was a very unfortunate and painful statement from the\nArmy Chief. Our gallant soldiers lack things as basic as water, yet, they put\ntheir lives on the line. Boko Haram parades better apparatus than our soldiers,\nyet, Buratai wants our men to perform magic. This country has been needlessly\nlosing hundreds of its gallant soldiers to Boko Haram because of these\nfailings. So, what is this army chief talking about? Buratai has never really\nbeen there for the soldiers. That was why I had consistently advocated his\nremoval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way forward? First, the likes of Bashir Magashi, Gabriel\nOlonisakin, Buratai and, Sadique Abubakar, have no business staying a day\nlonger in office. They must go. These people have done more harm than good to\nthe war against Boko Haram. A forward-looking government would have overhauled\nthis sluggish leadership. I find it difficult to comprehend why terrorists must\nconsistently take the fight to our soldiers. They have been obviously\nemboldened by the lethargic tactics of our ill-equipped and ill-motivated\nmilitary. For now, our gallant soldiers lack the capacity to end this war. The\nstrategy for getting result against Boko Haram is largely through aerial power.\nTechnology, quality equipment and quality manpower will be needed. It requires\nquality fighter jets and quality armoured attack helicopters. Our gallant\nmilitary lacks the competence and equipment for these. So, our President must\nhire Israeli or Russian mercenaries to finish this war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Yemi Adebowale (Ring True) , Email: yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com; Tel: 07013940521 (text only)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Yemi Adebowale For the first time in a long while, I heard the coldblooded leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau lamenting. The cry was sweet music to my ears as President Idriss Deby led…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[162,292,291],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-politics-governance","tag-boko-haram","tag-chad-president","tag-idriss-deby"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/boko-haram-factions-shekau-barnawi-e1474287926418-1.jpeg?resize=1000%2C500&ssl=1\")
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