• Index lists W’Africa as world’s new terrorism epicentre
• Troops neutralise 156 terrorists, arrest 464 in one week
The Defence Headquarters yesterday attributed the recent upsurge in terrorist activities in the North-East to the influx of foreign fighters reinforcing local terror groups.
The Director of Defence Media Operation, Major General Edward Buba, made this disclosure while briefing newsmen on the armed forces’ operations in Abuja.
According to Buba, “These foreign fighters are from the Sahelian Region. The other contributing factor is the local collaborators that form a support base for these terrorists. They serve as informants to the terrorists reporting on troops’ movement. Despite the situation, troops are profoundly conscious of their role and responsibility in ending insurgency and terrorism in the nation.”
Buba said that troops might record occasional tactical setbacks, but their strategic objective of breaking the terrorists’ will to fight remains unhindered. He said the troops had continued to take away the terrorists’ most important assets, such as their logistics, administrative and fighting capabilities.
“And of course, we are applying regional and international pressure and engaging the media. All these combine to destroy the terrorists’ will to fight. Wars are fought and won worldwide by destroying the enemies’ will to fight. And we are bent on achieving just that,” he added.
Already, West Africa is the world’s new epicentre for terrorism. According to the global terrorism index, the hub of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East to the central Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger accounting for most of the terrorism deaths in the region.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plans to raise $2.4 billion to establish a standby counterterrorism force to address this challenge. The Nigerian military is also expected to play an essential role by providing its air force assets for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation, close air support, and precision strikes in terrorist strongholds.
The growing capability of Nigeria’s air force is also acknowledged for its strategic power projection in West Africa, particularly in defending democracy. The Nigerian Air Force’s deployment to The Gambia strategically affected the ECOWAS mission to restore democracy in the coastal country in 2016.
However, the force has been criticised for several cases of accidental airstrikes that claimed the lives of many civilians, the recent being last Saturday. It is also criticised for inadequate deployment of air power for decisive strategic effects against Boko Haram, armed banditry and oil militants.
Lamenting these incessant incidents of friendly fire, the Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities, under the auspices of Nigeria Mourns, has disclosed that between February 2014 to 2024, 21 air strikes by the Nigeria Air Force had erroneously killed 473 civilians and injured many others.
The findings followed the recent killing of 20 civilians by a Nigerian Air Force airstrike in Tungar Kara, Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State on January 11 and another killing of 10 civilians after a similar airstrike in the Gidan Bisa and Rumtuwa areas of Sokoto State.
While expressing their sadness and outrage over the avoidable and tragic incidents, the coalition said these events are a strong reminder of the human cost of negligence and the urgent need for accountability.
The coalition includes Global Rights, Advocacy Centre for Development (AC4D), African Initiative for Peace Building, Advocacy and Advancement (AfriPeace), All-4-One Humanity Development Foundation., Alliances for Africa, Almajiri Child Rights Initiative (ACRI) Bauchi, Human Rights Network, Center for Community Excellence, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Grassroots Development Monitoring and Advocacy Centre Initiatives for Social Development among others.
The coalition stated that since February 2014, when a Nigerian military aircraft bombed Daglun Village in Borno State, killing at least 20 people, similar “erroneous” incidents have occurred in at least 21 airstrikes, resulting in the deaths of more than 473 civilians.
They maintained that these tragic incidents, which have all occurred in established indigenous communities and recognised IDP camps, suggest a disregard for the right to life and a troubling pattern of negligence within the Nigerian military.
“It is disconcerting that the military continues to explain away these incidents as unavoidable “collateral damage” in their fight against terrorism, perpetuating a cycle of impunity and indifference. Even when public outrage forces an admission of responsibility, as seen in the Tundun Biri incident in Kaduna in December 2023, meaningful accountability and reparative actions remain absent.”
“Rather than be accountable, the military routinely denies culpability, often claiming that only ‘security threats’ were ‘neutralised’. Under public pressure, it promises investigations, which rarely lead to actionable outcomes. When admissions of errors eventually surface, there is no concrete plan to prevent future tragedies or to provide compensation and rehabilitation for those affected by these horrific violations of human rights.”
To address these systemic issues, the Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities demanded that the Nigerian Government conduct an independent, comprehensive, and transparent investigation of the Tungar Kara bombing and all other “accidental” attacks on civilians to ensure accountability.
They stressed that the findings from these investigations must be published and accessible to the public promptly to promote transparency and rebuild public trust. They called on the Nigerian Military to review its operational protocols to enhance intelligence gathering, improve precision in targeting, and minimise civilian casualties during military operations.
They, however, called on the National Human Rights Commission to leverage its authority to demand accountability and justice for affected individuals, including ensuring equitable compensation and rehabilitation for victims and their families to help them recover from the profound loss and devastation.
MEANWHILE, soldiers on the frontline battling terrorists have killed no fewer than 156 terrorists, arresting 464 others in one week.
Disclosing this yesterday, the spokesman of the Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Buba, noted that the troops also arrested 29 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages.
According to Buba, who had his last address to the media as DMO boss, as he has been posted to another unit, he noted that the just concluded Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day was a stack reminder that “our fallen heroes have not died in vain. Indeed, the life of any personnel lost in battle contributes to making our nation safer.”
He noted that the military is committed to winning the war against terrorists and insurgents across the country.
“This is demonstrated as troops fight with great effort, determination and sacrifice to bring about great results.
“It is in light of the above that, during the period under review, troops neutralised 156 and arrested 464 persons. Troops also arrested 29 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages.”
