Reuters is reporting that while the Nigeria Army has driven back the Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast, the troops now face a new threat from the Islamist insurgents. According to the news agency, the new threat is fear of ambush from Boko Haram militants who are hiding on the fringes of recovered territories.
After making the first visit by an international news agency to Bama, Borno state in the devastated northeast region, Reuters paints a clear picture of tension and high alertness on the part of the army as troops patrol the swathes of lands already recovered from the insurgents.
Reuters narrated the scene thus: “Nigeria’s military has liberated large swathes of land from Boko Haram but a ride with an army convoy, all guns firing for fear of ambush, shows how far the northeast is from normality after a brutal Islamist insurgency that has displaced millions.
“The moment military convoys leave the relative safety of Bama, Borno state’s second town, soldiers in the lead vehicle open fire with a heavy cannon into the scrub along the road to pre-empt attacks by remaining fighters from the Islamist group.
“As they head for the regional capital, Maiduguri, the soldiers scan the road for bombs or booby-traps, while shooting at any possible cover – abandoned petrol stations, burned out farmhouses, trees, even clumps of elephant grass.
“Jeep drivers behind them in the convoy join in, firing assault rifles indiscriminately through windows with one hand while gripping the steering wheel with the other.” It also quoted the military commander in Bama, Colonel Adamu Laka as saying that the troops have to remain constantly alert to counter any attack on them by militants.
“If there is somebody there and you fire at him, he definitely wants to fire back so then you know his position and take action. You are trying to seize the initiative,” Laka said. Reuters reports that the closeness of the Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa forest – its final bolthole, explains the military’s worry.
“It’s just four or five kilometres from here. Once you cross the river you start meeting their checkpoints,” Laka was quoted as saying while pointing towards the forest on a tour of Bama’s outskirts in a bullet-proof jeep.
“Jeep drivers behind them in the convoy join in, firing assault rifles indiscriminately through windows with one hand while gripping the steering wheel with the other.” It also quoted the military commander in Bama, Colonel Adamu Laka as saying that the troops have to remain constantly alert to counter any attack on them by militants.
“If there is somebody there and you fire at him, he definitely wants to fire back so then you know his position and take action. You are trying to seize the initiative,” Laka said. Reuters reports that the closeness of the Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa forest – its final bolthole, explains the military’s worry.
“It’s just four or five kilometres from here. Once you cross the river you start meeting their checkpoints,” Laka was quoted as saying while pointing towards the forest on a tour of Bama’s outskirts in a bullet-proof jeep.
-Naij
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