By Linus Aleke
Terrorism and insurgency are twin evil that is very difficult to end. Its life expectancy is not doing badly in all the indexes used in measuring evil. The United States of America (USA), with one of the best intelligence networks on earth, modern military armament, sophisticated military personnel, and other security agents, as well as the latest technology, is still grappling with this twin evil as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda remain a significant threat to the country.

As the police of the world, it took the United States close to a decade to track down and kill the leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the US mainland, Osama bin Laden.

Unfortunately, the death of the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden by US Special Forces did not in any way sing the dirge or draw the curtain on the existence of the group.

Osama was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, by the elite US Navy SEALs of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six), in an operation code-named ‘Neptune Spear’.

It is a given, amongst scholars in strategy, as well as in military circles, that irregular warfare which is the modus operandi or terrorists and insurgents is the most difficult type of war to prosecute and win.

Just like freedom fighters, terrorists and insurgents often adopt guerrilla tactics to drive home their point.

Regrettably, in Nigeria, the Federal Government in 2015 hurriedly announced to the world through the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, that it had ‘technically defeated Boko Haram terrorists.

The military hierarchy, possibly out of patronage to the powers-that-be, also told Nigerians that no inch of Nigerian territory was under the control of terrorists.

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This unverifiable data had continued to circulate in both local and international media, including the new media. Painfully, the chicken has finally come home to roost, as a grieved and frustrated Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has told the world that two whole local governments and many communities scattered across eight other local government areas in the state are still under the strong grip of the terrorists.

Zulum, therefore, posited there is an urgent need for the military and all security forces to work in synergy to crush the Islamic State’s West Africa Province terrorists.

He said that as Boko Haram insurgents continue to surrender in their thousands, the ISWAP terrorists become more sophisticated, deadly, and continue to increase in number.

The governor made this assertion at the Council Chambers of the Government House, Maiduguri, while briefing members of the Senate Committee on the Army, led by Senator Ali Ndume.

Zulum said ISWAP fighters were more sophisticated, educated, armed, and brutal than Boko Haram terrorists, and that as such, their operations were becoming more pronounced around the southern and extreme northern parts of Borno State.

According to him, “It is an early warning for us as a government to understand the working system of ISWAP. We need to check them, chase them out while at their early stage before they become stronger and a serious problem for us to handle. They have been carrying out attacks in the southern and core northern part of Borno State.

“ISWAP has checkpoints between Damboa and Biu. They are collecting taxes from communities in these areas. A few days ago, I got a very good intelligence that they held a wedding for over 300 fighters in the Mandara Mountains, and they rode (on) over 300 motorcycles. Something needs to be done.”

He, however, contrasted himself when he asserted that despite the latest development, the situation was not as bad as it was some years back as peace was gradually returning to the state and villagers have engaged in farming activities thanks to the newfound working synergy among the stakeholders.

He said, “Somewhere along the line, we were able to understand the missing link. The missing link is synergy. There was no synergy between the government, the military, the police, the Civilian JTF, and all other partners”.

The governor also took the Chairman Senate Committee on Army, Ndume, who also hails from Borno State to the cleaners, accusing him of making comments that are capable of inciting the populace against repentant Boko Haram insurgents, who are being reintegrated into the society.

“I only have one discrepancy with Senator Ali Ndume. I heard him criticising the repentant terrorists and I felt that this should not have come from someone from Borno. I called him to register my disappointment with his comments. We know where we were before now. Ndume cannot go to his hometown without a security escort,” he said.

Discrediting Information Minister, Lai Mohammed’s hypothesis of the technical defeat of the terrorists, as well as exposing the lies in the claim by the military that no inch of the territory is under the control of non-state actors, the governor said, “Ndume’s hometown, Hambagda, has been deserted for the past seven years, and no one is living there.

“Ninety-five per cent of his people cannot go to their farms till this moment. But the situation is different since we started witnessing the surrender of the terrorists. Areas under cultivation have increased by 700 per cent and farmers have had a bumper harvest this year.

“Whether we like it or not, we have to welcome these repentant Boko Haram insurgents, although some of them may not be genuine, quite a number of them are genuine. Relative peace is gradually returning to the state; as such, we should encourage them to surrender and not incite the locals against them.

“Out of the over 20,000 that have surrendered, about 5,000 of them are fighters; so, imagine the destruction these fighters would have caused if they hadn’t surrendered. Until now, two local government areas of Borno State, Abadam and Guzamala, are still under the firm control of Boko Haram. “Some communities in eight local government areas, including Gwoza, Damboa, Bama, and Chibok still have elements of Boko Haram insurgents”.

In conclusion, Zulum assured that the state government would continue to explore avenues to encourage the insurgents to surrender their arms for peace to return to the state under his administration.

Meanwhile, On October 21, 2019, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had reiterated his 2015 stand that the Boko Haram terrorists had been technically defeated.

Before then, precisely on February 26, 2015, the then leading challenger for the Nigerian presidency, Muhammadu Buhari, vowed to defeat Boko Haram insurgents in the north by providing government forces with better equipment, more training, and more accurate intelligence.

Surprisingly, close to seven years after this promise, no difference seems to have occurred in this area.

Buhari, who spoke at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London, further noted that if the government of President Goodluck Jonathan had deployed the same resources to fight Boko Haram as it had to political ends, the army would have rescued the more than 270 schoolgirls abducted by the extremist movement in Chibok last April.

Unfortunately, a sizable number of these schoolgirls are still missing, and the Buhari administration seems to have lost its steam in searching for these innocent victims whose only offense was going to school to write exams.

Buhari said that if he was elected in the presidential elections on 28 March 2015, “the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria. It will be able to help itself”.

He added: “Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa, and no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service. We will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunition to work with. We will improve intelligence-gathering and border patrols”.

How well have these promises been kept? Trending videos of soldiers in war theatres complaining of poor military armament and non-payment of allowances provide the needed evidence.

Another incontrovertible evidence that the government and the military hierarchy had been feeding its citizens lies is the slaughtering of at least 45 farmers in the Zamarmari area of Jere local government area of Borno State.

The killing was one of the most gruesome and violent attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect in recent times.

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To add salt to injury, Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in an interview with BBC shortly after the killing, blamed the slain farmers whom he said failed to do due diligence by first obtaining clearance before visiting their farms.

With the above evidence, it will not be out of place to conclude that Nigeria has become a theatre of magic where abracadabra and the-more-you-look-the-less-you-see are reigning supreme.