After Intensive Aerial Bombardment, Boko Haram Retreats from Bama:®

After Intensive Aerial Bombardment, Boko
Haram Retreats from Bama
Boko Haram insurgents
Insurgents seize Adamawa town
By Senator Iroegbu and Michael Olugbode
Insurgent fighters from the Boko Haram Islamic
sect were in full retreat from the strategic town
of Bama, in Borno State, at the weekend
following a fierce aerial onslaught by the Nigerian
Air Force, military sources confirmed yesterday.
They said the aerial attack aimed at knocking off
Boko Haram’s weapon installations in the town
it had recently overrun, had been effective and
yielding the desired results.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has also
confirmed that over 50 terrorists were killed
yesterday afternoon as troops raided their hide
out in Kawuri shortly before setting out on a
planned attack on Konduga.
This was disclosed in terse statement through
the DHQ twitter account @DefenceInfoNG.
The Defence authorities said "one fabricated
artillery gun, two Anti Aircraft gun, an armoured
vehicle and assorted types of ammunition were
recovered in the process.
"Some hardware, weapons food items, and
personal belongings were also destroyed in the
raid".
However, one officer and two soldiers were said
to be seriously wounded. But Boko Hram opened
another front in the antiterrorism war on Friday
after an attack on Gulak town, the headquarters
of Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa
State. The Secretary to the Government of
Adamawa State, Professor Liman Tukur, who
confirmed the attack in a statement, said
insurgents had taken over the town.
President Goodluck Jonathan had on Friday,
reportedly, ordered a full-scale war against Boko
Haram.
NAF intensified its bombing campaign at the
weekend to rid Bama of the terrorists, pockets of
which were still said to be holding out in the
town and its environs. But the battle took a
heavy toll on civilian lives and property as the
insurgents were said to be embedded with
residents, locals said.
A source said, “The first attacks didn't really
make the expected impact but the second round
of bombardment really injured those Boko Haram
boys, which is why they are retreating now. They
are no more deep into Bama, while our people
are advancing and gaining territory. The Boko
Haram boys are right now retreating.
“We are now dislodging them. You know, Air
Force have intensified their efforts; they brought
F-7 and different kinds of aircraft. They really
bombarded them.”
Another military source confirmed the advances
of the Armed Forces in the battle of Bama but
cautioned that it was no time for celebration yet,
as the operation was still ongoing in several
parts of Borno State. He said the situation was
“still very volatile” with Gwoza far from being
liberated from the terrorists’ siege.
“We don't want to say anything official but there
are still fights going on in different places and on
different scales, especially by air. This is a
critical and unusual time,” the senior military
officer said.
A senior Air Force officer, who spoke from Borno
State, said apart from the aerial campaign in
Bama, NAF had been effective in support of the
ground forces with the launch of air attacks with
different aircraft types, including helicopter
gunships.
He said, “We are very deeply involved. You know
what we are having here is a joint operation of
the services, even though the Navy may not be
involved right now because of the terrain.
“First and foremost, apart from the airlift, we are
equally supporting the ground forces; in most of
the cases we even take the initiative. In modern
warfare, Air Force normally does the first dirty
job, clear the road for the Army to do the mop up
operations.
“Like I said, all our platforms are participating
fully here. We have Alpha Jets, we have F7,
Beechcraft, Mi35, which is the gunships, and
then all our transport planes: C-130, the G
TripleT. So we are participating fully and playing
a significant role in that place.”
The Defence Headquarters had vowed in a
statement by Director of Defence Information,
Major General Chris Olukolade, that it will not
allow any violation of the country’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity by terrorists. The
statement was in apparent response to a
growing sense of apprehension among citizens
and foreigners following recent reports about the
gain of territories in Borno State by Boko Haram.
“While welcoming all the concerns shown by
Nigerians and a section of the international
community following the increased menace and
activities of terrorists, it is necessary to reassure
all that the Nigerian Armed Forces is more than
ever determined and committed to the defence of
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria,
regardless of any odd,” Olukolade stated. “We
therefore urge our citizens not to lose hope or be
disenchanted but to remain steadfast and
supportive of the military as all steps are being
taken to ensure the success of the counter-
insurgency operations, especially at this crucial
time when our sovereignty is being challenged.”
But a military intelligence source said, “Gwoza is
still a no-go area, I must tell you the truth, as
the town is firmly in hands of the Boko Haram
terrorists. We are currently focusing on Bama
before advancing to other areas.”
However, the senator for Borno Central senatorial
district, Ahmed Zannah, said the military might
be playing right into the enemy’s hands by
focussing on Bama. He said the reported retreat
of Boko Haram from Bama might be a ploy to
draw out the military from Maiduguri, the Borno
State capital, before launching a heavy onslaught
on the town.
The warning came against the backdrop of
recent Boko Haram seizure of towns that are just
few kilometres from Maiduguri, which is already
swarming with internally displaced persons said
to be numbering over 100,000 who are housed in
different camps.
With the recent attacks on Gwoza and Bama,
those displaced since January in the North-east
are estimated to have risen to over 500,000,
according to the National Emergency
Management Agency.
Zannah said in an alert to the military, “At
present, there are pockets of insurgents in Bama,
men who are mainly indigenes of the town but
left behind by their leaders to continue to
terrorise the town. The leaders have left for their
hideouts in Sambisa.
“It is believed that those left in Bama are to
draw the military out of Maiduguri and when
they are reclaiming Bama, the large number of
insurgents in Sambisa will sneak into Maiduguri
to take control of the town.”
Zannah said Maiduguri, from where the
insurgents had been driven about a year ago,
remained their ultimate target, saying there are
indications that the sect is arming for a battle to
capture the ancient town.
Sources within the military blame some of the
difficulties being encountered in the fight against
Boko Haram on what they term indiscriminate
retirement of experienced officers.
One officer said, “The problem we are also
having now is that the military retired the very
ambitious and brave people from the service for
the fear of coup without knowing that this kind
of thing will arise. Some of these military
officers, very courageous ones, should have still
been in the system and by now they could have
given the guidelines on how we can go about
this.
“They could have acquired enough skills on how
to manoeuvre to deal with these guys. If we
succeeded outside the shores of this country, in
Liberia, Sierra Leone and other places, how much
more back home here. The fact is that this is
not like a conventional war.”
The opening of another key battlefront in
Adamawa State by the insurgents marked a
major escalation in the anti-terror war. Tukur
said the insurgents killed and displaced many
people in Gulak during the attack on the town.
The Adamawa State SSG said in a release at the
weekend, “It has come to the attention of the
Adamawa State Government that insurgents are
now in Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali
Local Government Area, and had killed and
displaced scores of people.
“On behalf of the people and government of
Adamawa, his Excellency deeply sympathises
with the people of Gulak and other surrounding
villages and towns whose areas had been
overran by insurgents.
“The concomitant effects of the insurgency, like
displacement of whole villages and towns, create
multitudes of internally displaced persons whose
management and welfare the government is left
to bear.”
Residents of some villages in Michika Local
Government Area, which borders Madagali local
government, were said to be fleeing to Uba,
Mubi, and Yola for fear of possible attacks.
Chief Press Secretary to the acting governor of
Adamawa State, Mr. Solomon Kumangar, also
confirmed the attack on Gulak town by
insurgents and said several people were killed.
Kumangar, however, denied reports that the
residence of the acting governor, Alhaji Umaru
Fintiri, in Gulak had been torched by the Boko
Haram terrorists.
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, in a
state broadcast on Friday, lamented the siege
and plunder of communities in the state by Boko
Haram, saying the attempt to predicate the
attacks on religion is despicable.
Shettima stated, “In recent days and weeks, we
have come under renewed and augmented
attacks, waged against all of us by an armed
minority that seeks to impose on us a doctrine
that is completely at variance with the religion of
Islam, which they claim to promote; a doctrine
that negates the dignity and existence of
humanity on earth, despite Allah’s decree in the
glorious Quran that He has dignified the human
creature, prohibited unjust killings and made the
religion of Islam that which does not sanction
compulsion in a multi-faith society like ours.
“Several innocent communities in Gwoza,
Damboa, Askira/Uba, Marte, Chibok, Konduga,
Dikwa and the most recent, Bama, have had
young and old amongst them children, weak old
men and women, killed in cold blood, their homes
destroyed and thousands forced to flee, with
some trekking over hurtful distances to become
refugees within and outside Borno State.
“Our capital city of Maiduguri is today facing a
heavy influx of refugees from the local
government areas in Borno. Borno citizens have
been forced to take refuge in parts of Gombe and
Adamawa states mainly on account of man’s
inhumanity to fellow man in the gratuitous name
of religion. These acts are absolutely
condemnable in the strongest of terms.”
However, the governor said in the history of
Borno State since the 19th century, the latest
insurgency was “not the first threat to our
existence as a people. We had faced and
survived threats in years past and we shall
survive this, insha Allah.
“We are confident of victory through a
reinforcement of our Armed Forces and the
collective will of all of us, citizens, who are
committed to defeating the Boko Haram
scourge.”