By Suleiman Umaru
When Captain Ibrahim Trarore, interim President of Britain, and his Co-Junta Leaders in Niger Republic and Mali, took the counter-terrorism war to Ja’a Nusrat ul- Islam wal- Muslimin, which is an affiliate of the North African based A-Qaeda Group, and other groups, believed have concentrated their operations since 2017, in the Hauts-Bassin, Boucle Du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel axis and East regions of the country along the border with Mali and Niger, they knew the game is up.
. The Burkinabe Government, which was said to have gained significant military support from Vladmir Putin, the Russian President and Kim Jong Un, of Noth Korea, over the last one year may have sent a message to the Al-Qaeda Terrorists affiliated terrorists operating in the Northern region of the country to lay down their arms and embrace peace or be ready for the worst.
The terrorists , which controls , almost half of Burkina Faso and exports terrorism to other countries , including Nigeria, the most populous country in the African Continent through Mali and Niger, may have taken advantage of the Burkinabe Leader visit to Russia, in mid – May, 2025, on the invitation of Putin, the country’s President to enter Ouagadougou, the Capital, but were driven back to the forests by government forces.
The Burkinabe’s interim President’s return from Russian, may have changed the strategy of the counter-terrorism war in the Sahel region. The ravaging terrorists may have known that they are loosing grip of their strong hold on the country and other countries in the Sahel region when the soldiers broke into their forest hideout and evacuated 1000 Motorcycles, which is their major means of logistics to carry out attacks on Communities and military bases.
The soldiers were said to have also neutralized over 500 of the terrorists and captured 106 others, including some French nationals, and Mercenaries from other West African countries. The arrested and handcuffed were said to have been found with CFA 800 m.
The question on the lips of most people was: How did the terrorists come about such huge amount of money in their had without the support of France, the Ex while colonial master, which exclusively contracts the Companies that mines gold and other mineral deposits in the country but gives it a peanut of CFA 1 billion only, annually. The situation was the same in Niger and Mali, where it mines Uranium, to generate electricity in their own country but the two Sahel countries enjoy unstable and described as the poorest region in Africa.
The recent arrest of a gunrunner believed to have been providing logistics support to the terror groups operating in the country may have exposed France and the North American country of the United States, US, which were said to have used the Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs, as spies, to penetrate the Sahel region.
The Western powers may have had their reasons for sponsoring terrorism in the Sahel region and the put the countries in the region to continue to mine the gold, Uranium and other mineral resources in the region.
The situation was not quite different from what is happening in the north eastern states of Borno, Yobe, under the siege of the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, and the north western states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and Katsina, home state of former President, Muhammadu Buhari, where various mineral resources are found.
Take for instance in the north eastern state of Borno, there are huge deposits uranium, Limestine, gypsum, while in Zamfara in the north central state gold, copper, iron ore, Tantalite and manganese are and other mineral resources are found. Also, in terrorists ravaged Sokoto state there are such mineral resources as gold, phosphate, gypsum and other minerals.
Emmanuel Macron[d1] and other western Leaders may have known that the only way to sustain their developed economies is put the Sahel region and its environs in perpetual crisis to illegally mine the gold and minerals in this region.
Donald Trump, US, President may have known that the entire West, particular, France is in serious trouble with the change in police direction of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger which had stopped French companies from mining gold, uranium and other minerals in their respective countries. Burkina Faso, government was said to have generated CFA18 billion, from the sales of gold alone in two months, compared to the CFA1 bn, given to the country by France, for mining and sales of the country’s gold. The amount does not include other mined minerals from the country sold in the international market.
Perhaps to turn the heat against the people against the Burkinabe Junta Leader, Capt. Traore, may have encouraged Gen. Michael Langley, Head of the US, African High Command, FRICOM, described by Capt. Traore as’’ a General of a great Army’’ from the United State, believed to be acting out a script, to have accused the Burkina Faso interim President of using ‘’the country’s gold reserves for personal protection rather than national benefit’’.
He got it wrong as the claims had emboldened the people to throw their weight behind the army Captain, urging him to ignore the US, Negro Army General claim and the other leaders of the 20 African country, which President Micron, of France, had said are sustained by his country. The People of Burkina Faso, were said to pointed accusing fingers on such African puppet Leaders as President Alssane Quatara of Coted’Ivore, as one of those being used by France to destabilize the Sahel region and ‘’still want Africans to be beggars’’.
There is no gain saying the fact that since Capt. Traore of Burkina Faso, and the other Junta Leaders from Mali and Niger Republic tightened up security in their respective countries, may have forced many of operating in the Sahel region to find their way to the North central states of Kwara, Benue, Plateau, operating under the name , The Mahruda Group, and the north eastern states of Borno and Yobe states where they were said to have integrated into with the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, to attack soft targets and Communities and military bases in in Borno state and Zamfara, in north western Nigeria.
Indeed, the frequent attacks on both civilian Communities and military bases in Zamfara state, by the Bandits Group and on the Forward Military Base of 53rd, Task Force Battalion, in the early hours of Monday, May 18, 2025, in the Marte Local Government Area of Borno state, with strings of air attacks using drones , which had resulted in the death of several soldiers and the destruction of an armoured vehicle and evacuation of weapons from the military base bear eloquent testimony to what is happening in the Sahel region at present.
The resurgence of attacks in Zamfara state, in north western Nigeria, Borno and Yobe states , in north eastern Nigeria, perpetuated by terrorists who had escaped from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all countries in the Sahel region and had penetrated the ranks of BokoHaram and ISWAP, Insurgents , may have forced Gen. Christopher Musa, Chief of Defense Staff and the Service Chiefs, to have embarked on an emergency visits to military Bases in the north eastern state of Zamfara and Borno, to assess the situation on ground and what needed to be done to boost the morale of the fighting troops.
The Nigerian military, the General had said are determined ‘’to clip the wings of the terrorists.
Gen. Musa, the CDS, who has given his words to bring to an end terrorists operation in the north eastern states of VBorno, Yobe and Banditry in the north western states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna and had Katsina, stating that military have devised measures to do so.
There is no gainsaying the fact the new Theatre Command of Operation Hadin Kai, in Maiduguri, had already deployed troops to the Sambissa forest and Timuktu area of the Lake Chad region, where the Troops were said to be ‘’conducting operations’’.
The Theatre Commanders in the north central and north western regions were said to have taken the same bold initiative to comb areas under their jurisdictions to secure the country in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate.
Although, he had repeatedly said that asymmetric warfare in Nigeria, appears to be difficult to prosecute because of the vast forest and terrain unlike the Conventional warfare where soldiers can effectively comb a whole Community to fish out the criminals but this not the case.
He fears that if the military should resort to searching homes in suspected Communities where these terrorists or bandits are hiding, it will give room to the International Human Rights Organizations and the Foreign NGOs, who operate as two-edge sword to condemn the action and would even query why the Civilians who are not Combatants that needed to be protected should be subjected to such embarrassment.
