By Suleiman Umaru
Those who think that the ongoing insurgency which began in the north eastern state of Borno in 2009, and later spread to neighbouring Yobe, during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan, may have to do a rethink.
This is because the ongoing insurgency in the north eastern state, which had appears to have began in Borno, was said to have been initiated even before former President Jonathan assumed office after he death of then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2007.
Abdulmumini Aminu, an Army Colonel, rtd, and former military Administrator of Borno state appears to have given an insight into the ongoing insurgency in Borno, in 2018, stating that if the Nigerian Government had taken the bull by the horn to tackle the incident when it had started by acting on all the security reports about the unusual movements around the Lake Chad basin, at its preliminary stage before it got to this level where it has become difficult in arresting the hydra- headed monster.
The retired Army Colonel had said that as the military Administrator of Borno state, in 1985, he noticed that there was a security challenge caused by’’ the proliferation of arms and ammunition from the political upheavals in the neighbouring Republic of Chad which then had Late Idriss Deby, a close political ally of former President Muhammadu Buhari as the country’s Leader. The Amy Colonel was said to have been encouraged to gather together all the security agencies in the north eastern state to fully police the Lake Chad basin to forestall the movement of the insurgents into the Nigerian territory.
He was said to have adopted an unorthodox method of dealing with the situation , by ensuring that the security agencies personnel dressed in plain cloth and unarmed using unbranded buses ‘’to infiltrate the criminal gangs camps to checkmate their activities in Borno state.
Col. Aminu, rtd, may have shocked Nigerians when he disclosed that the insurgents who had suspected the security agencies personnel were on the trail as ordinary people and could run for their safety were subsequently arrested. The former Borno state military Administrator had said that the state government had much information on the criminal gangs activities in Borno state, pointed out that with the step taken to curb the excesses of the insurgents at that early stage, the security agencies personnel eliminated many of them.
Indeed, the insecurity situation in the north eastern state appears to have become worse with the return of democratically elected government in Nigeria. The Lake Chased based insurgents armed to the teeth who may have found their way into in the Sambissa forest in Borno state and spread to Yobe, also in the north eastern geopolitical region, and later to the forests in Kdauna, Katsina, home state of Buhari, KSokoto, Zmafara, Kebbi,in the north western region and the north central state of Niger, Plateau , in the guise of taking care of their cattle.
The classh between the herdsmen an farmers have been very worrisome in Benue, home state of George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation under the present President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration.
The former Borno state military Administrator, who could not hide his feelings had said that the military and other security agencies personnel should be commended for the success that had so far been recorded in the ongoing war against the terrorists operating in the northern part of the country.
The recent killing of Tanimu Kunbiya, the Paramount ruler of Chanchanji Community in Taraba state and Yusuf Tanimu, his son , by suspected gun men bear eloquent testimony to the insecurity challenges in the country.
Going by what is currently happening in different parts of the country where the military , which has the backing of the Nigerian President to go all out and deal decisively with the Borno state based insurgents and the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and the north central states based states of Benue, Plateau, Taraba based bandits Group and those operating in Benue in the guise of Fulani herdsmen.
There is no gain saying the fact the heat appears to have become too much for the insurgents to bear at the Lake Chad basin that no fewer than 623 insurgents were said to have surrendered at different locationsat the Nigeria-Cameroon border between July 10, 2024, and July 17, 2024, as the Operation Lake Sanity II, progresses in Borno state.
Abubakar Abdullahi, an Army Lt. Colonel, and Military Information Officer, HQ, Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, had confirmed that the wave surrender of the insurgents, who many believe have been hit by hunger and various incurable disease, coupled with proper medical attention . The surrender of individuals was said to have started on July 11, 2024.
The MNJTF, Information officer had said that five terrorists belonging to the camp of the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram, were the first to surrender with their family members at Wulgo border Community between Nigeria and the Central African country ofCameroon.
The terrorists who were said to have surrendered were said to be indigenes of Tumbma and Kutumgulla in Marte Local Government Area of Borno state. The MNJTF, HQ, Information officer had said that an additional 19 terrorists surrendered in Madaya village , in the extreme North of Cameroon, including 11 others in the border Community of Wulgo.
The Army Colonel and MNJTF, Informattion officer, had stated further that on July 12, 2024, another 64 insurgents , who may not have it funny continuing with the senseless insurgency war were aid to have also surrendered in Bonderi Community, Cameroon . This is in addition to 27 other terrorists that were said to have surrendered on July 13, 2024.The trend was said to have continued on July 15, 2024, with another 102 insurgents surrendering in Bonderi Community, of Cameroon.
Funny enough, the terrorists, who were said to have surrendered in the Wlgo border Community and Bonderi , in extreme Cameroon, were said to have emerged from their Tumbuma hideout , southern Lake Chad as they could no longer stand the superior fire of the Nigerian military and MNJTF, troops.
. Suffice to say that in two days, precisely between July,16 , 2024 and July 17, 2024, 50 insurgents and their family members had surrendered in order to enjoy a new lease of life.
They may have thought it is going to business as usual like during the Buhari era where they would be integrated into the society without any prior investigation bu tthe situation appears to have changed. All the surrendered insurgents from Wulgo border Community and Bonderi, in extreme Cameroon, who were said to have been confirmed to be Nigerians based on preliminary investigations were said to have been handed over to the troops of Operation Hadin KAI for further action’’.
Opinion are divided on what should be done to the insurgents who had surrendered after many years of killing innocent citizens in the guise of terrorism attacks. There are other Nigerians who would want the Operation Hadin KAI, Chief, to take a cue from the step taken by Col. Aminu,rtd, a former military Administrator of Borno state did at the early stage of the insurgency in the old Borno state who had ensured that the insurgents arrested by plain cloth men security agencies operatives killed, as a deterrent to others.
The insurgents,operating in Borno state, particular, may have read the handwriting on the wall that the game is up and that they stand the risk of being killed when caught by the troops in the act. In May 2024, the Nigerian troops and MNTF, had apprehended no fewer t han 1,O51 terrorists while some senior Commanders of BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP , were said to have been killed, thus degrading the potency of the terrorists in Borno and Yobe states, I the recent time.
Describing insurgency as the most difficult form of wars to be fought globally, Col. Aminu, rtd, who had repeatedly commended the Nigerian military and other security and intelligence agencies for the success recorded so far in the anti-terrorism war is optimistic that their days are numbered.
Given the appreciable success achieved by the military over the last one year in dealing decisively with the insurgents and Bandits in different parts of the country, Senator Shehu Sani, from Kaduna state, had expressed optimism that the current insecurity in the county will soon be a thing of the past.
He has his reason. Toop Commanders of BokoHaram and ISWAP have been killed inBorno, and Yobe state and including their Bandits Group counterparts in Zmfara, Kaduna and Katsina states have been killed and more are still going to be killed by the troops.
