- Army campaign ongoing in six geo-political zones
- UN fret about conditions in former Boko Haram stronghold
More than any other period in the
nation’s history, the Nigerian Armed Forces are engaged simultaneously
in at least 10 major internal security operations across the six
geo-political zones of the country.
These major internal security operations
include the war against terrorism, deadly herdsmen, cattle rustlers,
kidnappers, oil thieves and pipeline vandals, and the joint
police/military security outfits against criminal activities such as
armed robbery in the 36 states of the federation.
The various operations involve huge
deployment of military assets and manpower and are being prosecuted
simultaneously at a period of dwindling national revenue and protracted
war against terrorism and insurgency that has lasted six years, thereby
stretching the military too thin.
In the North East, there is Operation
Lafiya Dole, which handles the overall Counter-Terrorism and
Counter-Insurgency Operations with expanded scope, scale and depth
comprising three divisions and more than five states. This has
dovetailed to other specialised operations like Operation Crackdown to
wind down the war against insurgents and clear the remnants of the Boko
Haram sect in Sambisa Forest; Operation Gama Aiki, which serves same
purpose in the northern part of Borno state; and Operation Safe
Corridor, set up for the de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of
repentant Boko Haram terrorists.
North Central has Operation Safe Haven
stationed in Plateau State with area of operation extending to Benue,
Kogi, Nasarawa and Kwara States to quell ethno-religious conflicts and
other criminal activities.
There is also Operation Sara Daji and
Operation Harbin Kunama in the North West, established to battle the
criminal activities of armed bandits, cattle rustlers and robbers
operating particularly in Zamfara, Kaduna and fringes of Sokoto, Kebbi,
Katsina and Kano states.
Down south, the military has a major
operation codenamed Operation Delta Safe which was formerly Operation
Pulo Shield. It is now complemented by the Nigerian Army’s Operation
Crocodile Smile, and Navy’s Operation Tsera Teku. These operations are
all aimed at crushing the resurgent Niger Delta militancy and other acts
of criminality like oil theft, vandalism, and bunkering in the region.
In the South west, there is Operation
Awase with a mandate to contain the criminal operations around
Ogun-Lagos axis, particularly in Arepo where illegal oil bunkering and
pipeline vandalism are regular occurrences. South East has Operation
Iron Fence to combat armed robbers, hooligans and kidnappers.
In addition to all these operations is
Operation Mesa, which is a Joint Task Force (JTF) operation against all
forms of criminal activities in all the states of the federation.
The Director of Defence Information
(DDI), Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed that the military was
currently handling not less than 10 such major operations but gave
assurances that the Nigerian armed forces were capable of the assigned
internal security responsibilities.
Abubakar however agreed that other
security agencies must step up to assist the complementary roles of the
military in the ongoing campaign to rid the country of all forms of
internal threats and criminalities.
He stressed that the military in spite
of all the limitations in the area of personnel, funding and support
from relevant agencies would not sit back and allow the country
disintegrate or drift towards anarchy.
He said: “There is no military in the
world that can claim that it is overstretched when it comes to internal
security challenges. This is our primary duty to ensure that our country
is united. Even though the military would have loved a situation where
other security agencies step up and play their role to complement our
supporting duties.
“There are certain security operations
that could have rightly been carried out by other security agencies to
assist the armed forces but in the event this were not done we cannot
just fold our arms to allow things to deteriorate. This is our country,
it is our duty to protect it and we are able and capable of defending
our territorial integrity.”
On the various operations across the
country, Abubakar said,”so far we have over 10 major operations aimed to
sustain tight security, peace and stability in the country.”
He said: “You are aware of the most
critical is ‘Operation Lafia Dole’ in the North East against Boko Haram,
the other one is ‘Operation Sharan Daji’ against cattle rustlers and
criminal activities in the North West. We also have ‘Operation Safe
Haven’ located in Jos to quell ethno-religious crisis in the area. There
is also ‘Operation Delta Safe’ which replaced ‘Operation Pulo Shield’
to crush criminal activities to protect the critical economic
infrastructures in the Niger Delta
“We have ‘Operation Safe Conducts’,
which is to guide armed forces participation in electoral matters. This
is to create a conducive atmosphere for elections, while ‘Operation Iron
Fence’ targets armed robbers, hooligans and kidnappers. This operation
which is jointly done with other security agencies, armed forces across
the country is mostly domiciled in the South East. We also have
Operation Gama Aiki which is a multi-national operation with troops from
the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) member states. This together with
Operation Crackdown is an operation within operation aimed to mop up
Boko Terrorists in the North East.”
“Further down South, we have ‘Operation
Tsare Teku’ guarding the Sea which was launched early this year by the
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Its being spearheaded by Navy to secure
the maritime environment and it has been very successful in reducing
hijacking of ships and piracy. There is also ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’
launched by the Army to support the larger ‘Operation Delta Safe.
“In addition, there ‘Operation Awase’ in
the South West, it is equally meant to contain the criminal operations
around Ogun-Lagos, especially in Arepo, which has been very successful
and has restored confidence within the affected communities who can now
sleep with their eyes closed. Added to all these is ‘Operation Quick
Response Squad’, which is mostly against armed robbery, which is
coordinated in various formations.”
A security consultant, Mr. Max Gbanite,
called for more funding as well as expansion of the resources and
personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Gbanite argued that with proliferation
of internal insurrections in various parts of the country, the military
needed serious attention for it overall improvement and modernisation.
He therefore, called for special funding for the security and defence sector in the form of National Security Fund.
He said: “Our military requires
additional funding, mobilisation of human capacity or training because
the amphibious force we have in Calabar, which part of them has been
deployed to the Niger Delta for Operation Crocodile Smile and Delta Safe
is not enough to handle the problem and vastness of that particular
region.
“So there is a need to increase the
capacity of the Army, Navy, Air Force because we are a big and serious
nation. When you increase this capacity, it gives the Nigerian Army
Corps of Engineers the opportunity to build the infrastructure to
address oil spill as its not only a civilian responsibility. It however
requires money to do that. So my clear answer is that we must increase
the size of our armed forces. But if and when you do that, how do you
fund it? You cannot fund it from the statutory allocation.
“There is a need for National Security
Fund, where a deduction from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs) for certain percentage to be put aside to assist all military
operations including Police, DSS, DIA and everything about security.
When it comes to funding we are actually lagging. It is easy for someone
to actually raise alarm that $2.8 billion was allocated to the security
sector, that is nothing compare to other countries.
“If you go and ask the US government how
much did they spend on their Army you can’t get an answer. They can
only tell you that X amount is budgeted for military and that’s all you
will hear. You don’t know what is given to the Air Force, Marine and
other forces. At this particular point in time, the Nigerian Army is due
to have an operating Aviation Wing, Navy does not have enough patrol
vehicles for our waters, NAF does not have enough and operational
aircraft for the internal security that we are faced with,” he added.
Speaking further, Gbanite blamed the
precarious situation in which the Nigerian Armed Forces found itself on
the downsizing policy carried out by former President Olusegun Obasanjo
who purged the military and drastically reduced the number of their
personnel.
He also recalled that former Head of
State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, had a wonderful proposal that could have
solved the emerging security situation when he tried to establish a
National Guard for internal security operations, similar to the one in
the United States.
“We have been a very great nation that
we have never had any issue with external aggression against our nation,
instead we have always done interventionist force as exemplified in
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali and Cote’d Ivoire. And under President
Olusegun Obasanjo, our military was really downsized but if you look at
our growing population that means there will be growth in internal
insecurity,” he said.
“Unfortunately,” he noted, “the Police
are not properly equipped and trained to manage those things at this
particular point in time.”
In another development, the UN refugee
agency has expressed concern over basic services and security in a
territory formerly controlled by Boko Haram insurgents, as hundreds of
internally displaced people are returning to their devastated villages
and towns in the north-eastern state of Borno – only recently liberated
by the Nigerian armed forces.
Speaking to journalists at a press
briefing in Geneva Friday, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), Mr. Leo Dobbs, said “Comprehensive figures are not
available but our field staff and partners are reporting both
government-facilitated and spontaneous return in recent days of hundreds
of people to places such as Mafa, Konduga, Benisheikh and Dikwa,”
UNHCR expects the number to grow in the
coming weeks, while noting that government and aid agency assistance has
been stepped up in Borno’s 16 newly accessible districts.
“UNHCR and its partners have restricted
access to 10 of these districts, where some 800,000 people need urgent
help,” Dobbs elaborated. “Some of those now returning to their homes in
the liberated areas from places like the Borno capital, Maiduguri,
appear to be happy to go back, citing dire conditions in the places
where they have been living, including camps for the internally
displaced.”
However, UNHCR is concerned about the
welfare of the people, who are returning to areas that have been
devastated under Boko Haram rule.
“Many of the internally displaced will
be going back to destroyed homes and infrastructure, and areas lacking
health care and other services,” said the refugee agency’s spokesperson.
“The returns should be voluntary, dignified and safe – people should be
informed about conditions in their home areas.
In regular contact with state officials,
UNHCR has raised its concerns and offered to work closely with them to
help ensure that the reinstatements are conducted safely, with dignity
and in accordance with international standards.
Dobbs pledged that the UN agency would continue to monitor the situation of returnees, especially the most vulnerable.
“Meanwhile,” he said, “as we and
partners scale up our operations in the north-east, security and access
to the needy, especially those in the newly accessible areas, remain
major challenges. A greater humanitarian response and presence on the
ground is urgently needed, aid efforts must be better coordinated, and
data collection improved.”
In the past week, UNHCR began to deploy a
14-strong emergency response team, including experienced senior
emergency coordinators and several protection officers.
Most of the displaced are women,
children and the elderly. Priority issues include shelter, food, potable
water and health concerns, including acute malnutrition and cholera
prevention.
In concrete terms, UNHCR continues to
work through local partners to carry out vital protection monitoring in
Bama, Monguno, Damboa, Konduga, Mafa, Dikwa and including Biu, Bayo,
Hawul, Shani and Kwaya Kusar districts in southern Borno.
Over the past two weeks in Bama, the UN
refugee agency provided 200 shelters for 1,000 people and distributed
non-food items to 16,000 people, while in the Cameroon-Nigeria border
town of Banki, it handed out aid items to 10,000 people. In Maiduguri,
UNHCR constructed almost 2,000 semi-permanent shelters for around 10,000
people, and is building emergency shelters for 5,000 people in Dikwa.
The UN refugee agency also warned that
Boko Haram continues to pose a real threat, despite the recent setbacks
suffered by insurgents during joint regional military operations.
“Although the government has rolled back
Boko Haram gains since last year, the insurgency has switched to terror
attacks and remains a potent threat,” said Dobbs.
The insurgency in the north-east of
Nigeria has forcibly displaced more than 2.25 million people since 2014,
including 2.066 million internally displaced people, and almost 190,000
refugees in neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Meanwhile the Multi-National Joint Task
Force (MNJTF) in Operation Gama Aiki has braved the challenging
difficult terrains and unpredictable weather conditions to conduct an
aerial bombardment of 12 Boko Haram terrorist Camps in northern part of
Borno.
The Chief Military Public Information
Officer of MNJT, Col. Muhammad Dole, in a statement saturday, said the
troops killed four terrorists and lost two personnel in one of the
operations.
Dole said “despite these limitations for
the ground forces, the Air component of the operation, through
successful combined air operations continue to deny the terrorists
freedom of action and movement within the battle fields. Recent air
strikes and simultaneous clearing operations on 12 identified terrorist
camps and hideouts have greatly shattered their cohesion.”
He noted that the continuous blockade of
the terrorists main supply routes and arrest of their logistics
suppliers caused serious economic hardship and led to the surrender of
many terrorists in different locations in the Area of Operation (AOO) of
MNJTF.
“Additionally, the troops of Sector 4 in
Diffa Niger Republic tracked and neutralised four terrorists suspected
to have attacked the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp and Two
others were arrested at Tumoua village,” he stated.
Dole stated that in another development,
the troops of Sector 4 while on clearing operation after successful air
strikes at Baroua village, encountered an Improvised Explosives Devices
(IED) explosion.
The incident, he said, led to the death
of two personnel including an officer and a soldier, while six other
soldiers were wounded. He said the deceased personnel were given
befitting burial in Diffa while the injured soldiers were evacuated to
Niamey, Niger Republic for medical treatment.
The MNJTF Spokesman however, assured
that in spite of this unfortunate event, the morale and fighting spirit
of the troops remain very high.
In a related development, the Director
of Army Public Relations (DAPR), said a fighting patrol team of 33
Brigade Nigerian Army following a tip off on September 9, 2016, had
contact with suspected kidnappers at Lame Burra forest near Dutsen
Ganye, Gunduru and Kati Layin villages, Bauchi State.
Usman said during a heavy exchange of
fire, troops killed seven of the kidnappers and destroyed their camps.
He said the troops also recovered two AK-47 rifles and three Dane guns
at the camp.
The Army Spokesman stressed that troops
are still combing the general area to further track down other fleeing
members of the criminal gang.
He said: “It is important to state that
the Brigade after the initial successes of its Operation Forest Kunama,
which was aimed at clearing all livestock rustlers and armed bandits
camps in Bauchi and Gombe States general area, the Chief of Army Staff
(CoAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, directed them to maintain continued
presence at the Lame-Burra forest. This is to prevent the criminal
elements that fled from returning.”
Subsequently, Usman said, two Forward
Operation Bases (FOBs) were established at Lame and Jimi to cover the
Lame and Burra axis of the forest respectively. He noted that the troops
usually carry out periodic fighting patrols into the forest from the
FOBs.
In the same vein, he said the troops on
Operation Lafiya Dole deployed at Forward Operation Base (FOB) Buratai
in conjunction with local vigilante arrested a suspected Boko Haram
terrorist named Adamu Damuna. He is currently being interrogated.
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