Nigerian Military and the Renewed Onslaught Against Criminal Elements

Nigerian Military and the Renewed Onslaught Against Criminal Elements

By MUKHTAR Ya’u Madobi

When Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, the present Nigeria’s Defence Chief assumed office, he was aware that his job has already been cut out for him and thus citizens will look up to him to provide solutions for the country’s lingering security challenges.

It is no longer a story that non-state actors ranging from terrorists, insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, ethnic militias, separatist agitators and pipeline vandals have been holding the country to ransom for quite a number of years.

However, it is gratifying that when General Musa was appointed as the helmsman of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, AFN, he took it upon himself to salvage the country out of its security quagmire.

And within four months as he steers the wheels of Nigerian Military High Command, CDS Musa has made significant strides around Nigeria’s security sector by boosting the morale of frontline troops, while maintaining citizens confidence in the military.

This is obvious as the Nigerian Military troops continue to sustain their onslaughts against criminal elements- the bandits and kidnappers that are wreaking havoc in the northwest and the terrorists bedeviling the northeastern region.

Recently, the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, components in collaboration with the ground troops raided bandits enclaves in northwestern state of Zamfara, where scores of the criminals were neutralized alongside their motorcycle and other valuable logistics.

This special operation was conducted less than 24 hours after General CG Musa charged troops to take the war into the terrorists’ doorsteps and equally eliminate them.

Musa spoke to troops of Operation Hadin Kai at the Maimalari cantonment, Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.

“Don’t just come and sleep in the theater, make sure you look for Boko Haram and kill. Anybody who comes to the theater and finishes without killing one Boko Haram is not complete.” he said.

According to a source from Defence Intelligence who confided with PRNigeria, the said joint military operation was undertaken after obtaining credible intelligence in banditry-prone communities in Kebbi and Zamfara axis.

“The bandits were identified, following intelligence reports of mass gathering and planned movement towards Niger State. The terrorists were in a convoy of several motorcycles, on the road track leading from Kabaro towards Sangeko,” the source added.

Though no specific figure of the neutralized terrorists was quoted by the Military High Command, but reports emanated from several media organizations indicated that the casualties meted out on the criminals was colossal.

This development is an indication that General CG Musa is walking his talk when he pledged to flush out bandits and terrorists from the country. The CDS made the commitment in Kaduna when he paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Uba Sani at government house in late September.

He said, “for terrorists and bandits, it’s just a matter of time. We are coming after them and we are going to get them to leave the country completely.”

Earlier last week, the Senate tasked the military and other security agencies to conduct special operations to dislodge bandits in the North West.

This follows after a spate in the abduction of students across higher institutions across the length and breadth of the country by bandits and other criminal elements.

However, as a result of the military prowess, gallantry and patriotism, the majority of the abducted students and other captives were rescued and reunited with their families.

Recently, it was revealed that the Quick Response Force (QRF) of the Joint Task Force North West Operation HADARIN DAJI deployed at Malekachi in Kebbi state have successfully rescued 17 kidnapped victims and captured operational Motorcycles from terrorists during a rescue operation.

This development was coming after the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba who stated that troops have neutralized 50 terrorists, apprehended 114 others and equally rescued 49 kidnapped hostages within a week in various operations across the North-East, North-Central and North-West regions of the country.

As a result, Nigeria’s Military have continued receiving floodgates of encomiums from civil society groups, stakeholders and other citizens courtesy of the renewed crackdowns on non-state actors nationwide.

It is against this background that a non-partisan advocacy group, the North-East Elders for Restoration have earlier hailed General Christopher Gwabin Musa due to ongoing clearance operations by the military against terrorists, bandits, separatists agitators and other criminal elements across the country.

The Elders noted that General Musa’s tenure as the Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai witnessed improved security in the region.

The group said, “During his tenure as the Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, we also witnessed a large number of terrorists and their family members surrendering to troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that the recent offensive against bandits in the Zamfara axis was successful due to the swift action of the military, acting credible intelligence. Over the years, intelligence has proven to be a veritable and powerful weapon utilized by security agencies towards averting national security breaches.

Thus, it is essential that the military continue to synergize with other sister security agencies in areas of intelligence gathering and information sharing aimed at enhancing national security. Meanwhile, let troops sustain the tempo with which they are already pounding terrorists and enemies of the Nigerian State.

MUKHTAR is the author of a book on “National Security Strategy” and is a staff writer with the Emergency Digest.