By SWAI Investigations
Terrorists deadly attacks in the North Eastern part of Nigeria became very pronounced from the year 2009.
Many who knew the worth of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) as one of the best militaries in the world believed the issue was just a storm in a tea cup and that it won’t take them much time to crush the terrorists, like the Jama’atu Ahl as-Sunnah li-Da’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), popularly known as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), when they were drafted in to tackle the crisis in Nigeria.
But against expectations, the war against the terrorists, has dragged on for 14 years in Nigeria.
Even though they are yet to be completely eliminated, the terrorists have been significantly degraded.
One of the factors that made the war against the terrorists not to be easily won by the AFN, over the years, was the terrorists’ ability to easily and quickly change their attacking base from their enclaves in the North East of Nigeria to the Lake Chad Basin region and their easy access to the neighbouring countries bordering the region.
They severally planned attacks against Nigeria from the neighbouring counties and the Lake Chad Basin, sneaked into Nigeria to implement them and silently sneaked back to the neighbouring counties and the Lake Chad Basin to escape been caught.
This went on for many years as the terrorists continued to use the difficult geographical terrains between North East of Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin, and the neighbouring countries to their advantage.
To stamp out the activities of the terrorists in the Lake Chad region and in the countries around the Lake, the operationalized Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) went into full force against the terrorists in the year 2015.
The current successes being recorded against the terrorists in Nigeria were majorly achieved by the North East Operation HADIN KAI on one side and the MNJTF on the other side.
The North East Operation HADIN KAI was dealing with the terrorists within Nigeria’s geographical boundary in the North East, while the MNJTF was blocking the easy passage of the terrorists from Nigeria to the Lake Chad region and the neighbouring counties or blocking them from moving from the Lake Chad Basin and the neighbouring counties into Nigeria.
Although these efforts were said to have greatly degraded the abilities of the terrorists to carry out deadly attacks in Nigeria as recorded in the recent past.
Security Watch Africa (SWA) as part of media representations from Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, recently visited N’djamena, Republic of Chad to see things for itself on the latest development in the region, and was briefed on issues ranging from the overview of the MNJTF and to its achievements in the past ten months under the leadership of the current Force Commander, Major General Ibrahim Sallau Ali.
SWA discovered that “MNJTF’s existence leveraged on a number of pillars to remain cohesive, decisive in the conduct of each operational activities. These pillars include coordination, partnership Critical Mass, delivery, and reach. While the major threat elements in the area of operations remains the Bakura, JAS and ISWAP terrorists groups.
“The enhanced capacity of the Multinational Joint approach of the MNJTF in conjunction with national operations have continued to diminish the potency of the terrorists within the Lake Chad basin and settlements. As part of the continuous efforts of the MNJTF to contain and defeat the terrorists within the area of operations, 8 major and several other operations were conducted during which forces were projected in the fringes of Lake Chad islands with positive outcomes.
“Since then, MNJTF has continued to sustain offensive operations to deny the terrorists freedom of action, as well as support non kinetic and influence operations to reinforce the confidence of the local populace.”
On the overview of MNJTF, it was informed, “MNJTF was first established in 1994 as a company of the Nigerian Army with its headquarters in Baga, Nigeria, to counter the rising level of crime in the general area of Lake Chad Basin.
“The operation was later expanded in 1998 to include one company of troops each from the Republics of Chad and Niger to address increasing cross border crimes, deteriorating security situation across the Lake Chad Basin region. Occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram terrorists warranted the operationalization of the MNJTF in 2015 as sub regional outfits against the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.
“The Headquarters was relocated to N’djamena with Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger deploying troops as sectors 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. While the Republic of Benin assumed an observer status with only staff officers deployed at the headquarters. The headquarters of the sectors were established in Mora, Babasulo, Monguno and Diffa, accordingly.”
Stressing further that the MNJTF was a successful fusion of countries belonging to two different regional blocs, the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States, (ECCAS), with the aim of “fighting a common enemy, which is the Boko Haram terrorists.”
The operationalized MNJTF, it said, was endorsed by the UN and EU, with EU as a coordinating platform.
The Force, which is partly funded by the EU and Nigeria, has the NCBC as a political coordinating body under the leadership of the Executive Secretary who doubles as the Head of Mission.
The MNJTF, operates a Central Command and Control structure under the authority of the Force Commander whose appointment rests with the Nigeria unit until the end of the mission.
“Troops contributing countries transfer operational authority and control of their troops to the Force Commander once deployed to the mission. However, certain administrative responsibilities such as pay, allowances, promotion, and posting, among others, remain under the control of the troops contributing countries.
It noted that since 2015, MNJTF has conducted several small scale and 8 major operations.
“The major operations include Gama Aiki, Ruwan Kada, Hamili Facat, Operation Yanki Tafiti 1 and 2, Sharan Fagi, Lake Sanity 1, Arbi Zuma and currently Lake Sanity 2, which started on the 23rd of April 2024.” it was revealed.
Dwelling on the current Lake Sanity 2, it said “The troops have exhibited high level of dedication to achieving the mission objectives, showcasing their commitment to maintaining peace and security in the region.
“Operation Lake Sanity 2 is poised to significantly complements various national operations and solidify joint efforts of the MNJTF. The troops have demonstrated unparallel dedication to achieving their mission.
“The sentiment warmly echoed by the local communities who have greeted the forces with open arms and cheers as a clear sign of their support. This local backing alliance with force commanders repeated calls for community engagement across different sectors within the MNJTF area of operation.”
On humanitarian efforts, it said “The kinetic and non kinetic operations of the MNJTF have created an enabling environment for conduct of humanitarian activities in local communities as well as resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“These activities include facilitating the return of IDPs to their ancestral homes, medical outreaches and the building of health centers for communities. Support schools in the area of provision of school furniture, sinking boreholes to provide potable drinking water, donation of agricultural equipment, renovation of classrooms. These efforts. have largely impacted the lives of the local populace and have also changed their perception on the activities of the MNJTF.”
Highlighting the achievements of the MNJTF, the source revealed “The MNJTF has recorded both operational and humanitarian successes from July 2023 to date.
“Some of these achievements include facilitation of the return of about 3200 residents of the Bagatelleron community in Chad to their ancestral homes, recovery of various arms and ammunition including 20 AK 47 rifles, four GPMGs 5 hand grenades, 35 magazines and 1416 rounds of ammunition of different caliber, destruction of several terrorist enclaves, training camps and Improvised Explosive Devices making factories, the revival of the fishing activities that were previously hindered by security concerns in the region.
“The provision of agricultural tools and installation of more than 10 Irrigation boreholes to booster food security in the area. The completion of 95 Quick impact projects in 31 communities around the Lake Chad region, spanning water, sanitation, health and education sectors.
“The arrest and investigation of 337 terrorists as well as neutralization of 299 terrorists, and surrenders of 273 terrorists across various sectors.”
In conclusion, it added, “MNJTF has continued to carry out its activities and operations towards the attainment of its mandate during the period under review.
“The force coordinated the conduct of several small scale and joint engagement operations in the various sectors. These efforts have been largely successful as they have led to significant gains against the terrorists as well as gradual return to normalcy in the communities affected by Boko Haram insurgents.
“MNJTF remains committed to the full eradication of the terrorists from the Lake Chad basin region and the restoration of normalcy in the area. MNJTF will continue to take the battle to the adversary unto they are completely rooted out of the region.”it stated.
During interactions with the Force Commander, Major General Ibrahim Sallau Ali, he thanked the media for their reportage and urged them to continue to support MNJTF to achieve total peace in its area of responsibility.
He said “At the moment, we are conducting Operation Lake Sanity 2 and we expect the press to also key in so that they know what is happening.
“This fight against insurgency and terrorism is not just for the military alone, not only for the militaries from the 5 Multinational joint Task force. The press has a big role to play. So, I want to use this opportunity to solicit your assistance, your support, to help us get out the right narrative out. So that it can help us achieve peace in the Lake Chad Basin area.
“I also want to use this opportunity to tell the press that are here, please we will expect you to make sure that your report is accurate.
“Another issue that I want to raise is that it is very important that please when you are reporting our operations, be mindful of the security situation in the sense that you must balance what you are going to report against the security troops in the field.
“So that goes to not only those from Nigeria, but also the press from Chad, Cameroun. Please, your troops are there in the field trying to make sure peace is achieved. While we want the press to report our activities, we don’t want the press to be a problem to our success.
He also commended his officers, CMPIO, Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi and other Staff Officers, his deputy for organizing the visit.
“This is the first time I’m calling the press to my Headquarters after 10 months of my assumption. I think when I was in Jos, the Security Watch Africa came to me. And that was barely some few months when I took over. So don’t feel bad with me for calling after 10 months because you know the logistics requirement involved in moving you, especially those from Nigeria and Cameroon. Those in Chad are here, but there is a lot of logistics. So, I want to appeal lastly for more support and your cooperation. And Please, let’s make this event count.” he concluded.
While the MNJTF must be commended for its efforts towards defeating terrorists activities in the Lake Chad region and by extension stopping external terrorists’ attacks against Nigeria and other countries, it must continue in that stride to completely destroy terrorists enclaves and hideouts in and around the Lake Chad Basin.
All hands must be on deck to block the terrorists supplies in order to smoke them out from their hideouts and stop them from their evil agenda.
Sending out the terrorists from the region will also pave way for the Lake Chad Basin to attain its full economic potentials for the benefit of all the nations around it, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
Everything must be done to bring back the lost glory of Lake Chad Basin being a source of economic livelihood for millions of people living in the catchment areas of the four countries.
All these are only possible when terrorism is completely wiped, and peace and safety of all is guaranteed in the region.
