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Olakunle Olafioye
Security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has advised the Federal Government to mount a major military offensive this spring against the dreaded Boko Haram Islamist sect. The aim of the offensive is to save Nigerian lives by disrupting the plans and operations of the insurgents, who unleashed a high spate of attacks against hard and soft targets in the Northeast causing loss of lives.
Reacting to the recent deadly attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents on Damboa Borno State; Dapchi, Yobe State and Garkida, Adamawa State, Dr. Ekhomu, who is the President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), said that the terrorists were becoming more emboldened by the defensive strategy adopted in the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations. Said he: “We must take the fight to the insurgents to disrupt their cadence. Obviously, Boko Haram/ISWAP has developed an elaborate battle plan which it executes in attack after attack. We need a new offensive to keep them off-balance and therefore save innocent Nigerian lives.”
Ekhomu urged the Federal Government to adopt the risk-mapping methodology espoused in his new book titled “Boko Haram: Security Considerations and the Rise of an Insurgency” which indicates that from the risk identification bucket (problem-sensing protocol) it is clear that the insurgent attacks are increasing in frequency, increasing in geo-spatial terms and increasing in ferocity. “The present strategy of taking body blows will result in more body bags,” he lamented.
According to Dr. Ekhomu, the continuous killings by the insurgents is doing irreparable reputational harm to Nigeria. He advised the Federal Government against making excuses that Boko Haram attacks soft targets, saying, “that’s what terrorists do – seek out and attack soft targets.” He said that due to the frequency of the killings of Nigerians by the Boko Haram, public outrage and outcry against their atrocities have given way to acceptance. “That is very sad,” he added.
Dissecting reports of the Damboa attack, Ekhomu said that taking on a military super-camp in the middle of the day was Boko Haram’s way of showing off its military prowess. Surprisingly, the fact that the 25 Task Force Brigade (Army Super-camp 2) was a hardened military target, did not deter the insurgents. They mounted a determined assault on the military objective, killing three soldiers as confirmed by the military authorities. However, scores of terrorists were reportedly killed and 19 fighter vehicles destroyed by the combination of ground troops, air assets, Civilian JTF and volunteers engaged in repelling the Damboa attack of 4th March 2020.
