Boko Haram, ISWAP becoming more deadly- Report

Boko Haram, ISWAP becoming more deadly- Report

Unless a new military strategy is designed to check the growing insurgency in the North East, terrorists are daily becoming bold and daring in their attacks not only on soft-targets but against Nigerian troops, checks by PRNigeria has revealed.

PRNigeria gathered that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is also worried on the steady reversal of fortunes by the troops at the hands of Boko Haram terrorists and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) since December 2019 and has since reached an alarming rate since the beginning of 2020.

Reports indicate that the deadly onslaught by these insurgent groups, which have culminated in the killing and abduction of many civilians as well as soldiers in the North East is alarming with the latest being the reported killing of 17 soldiers by Boko Haram terrorists.

The report show that even though the casualties were higher on the terrorists’ side but no fewer than 17 soldiers were killed, while many others were abducted in two confrontations on Friday and Saturday between the military and the insurgents on Bama-Gwoza highway of Borno State.

This also aligns with the recent verdict by the  European Parliament, legislative branch of the European Union (EU) that there has not been any significant progress in the fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists.

The Parliament had in its resolution of January 16, 2020, remarked that the security situation in Nigeria has deteriorated significantly with Boko Haram insurgents turning Maiduguri-Damaturu and surrounding routes into a death zone.

In the same vein, the United Nations (UN) had  expressed  outrage over the scale and intensity of attacks carried out by the suspected  insurgents against its facilities and other targets in parts of the North East Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement on Monday by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, who strongly condemned Saturday’s attack by the terrorists on it’s humanitarian hub in Ngala, a Nigerian border town with Cameroon.

“I am outraged by the extremely violent attack on this key humanitarian facility where five United Nations staff were staying at the of the incident,” Kallon stated.

The UN had last Thursday shown apprehension over growing insecurity in the area, even as it had been reported that some of its workers in some Borno town had been recalled to the state capital Maiduguri.

According to military sources, the upsurge in the insurgency is a reflection of low morale, dearth of strategic and operational ideas and ultimately, the natural law of diminishing return.

“The Service Chiefs need to do more in term of strategies because the security situation in the first month of new year is very disturbing, awful and embarrassing as the terrorists are not going for soft targets but Military facilities and troops,” a source said.

By PRNigeria