Boko Haram in disarray

It has emerged that Boko Haram which recently boasted of greater capacity to perpetrate more terror acts now seem to be in disarray, a development sources said, forced them to embark on hit-and-run attacks on remote communities in Borno.

In an audiotape allegedly released recently by the group, it claimed that its leader, Abubakar Shekau, widely reported to have died, was alive even as it boasted of more attacks. How­ever, it was learnt that the insurgents are disorganized unlike the situation in the past.

“The larger membership of Boko Haram is not particularly domiciled in Sambisa bush (the insurgents’ main camp) now because of the increasing bombing by military forces but now move around in smaller groups around the central part of Borno carrying out attacks on soft targets and sometimes fleeing to the northern part in the dead of the night,” said a security source who has been working on the activities of Boko Haram for about five years.

The military disclosed it has com­menced air bombardment on Boko Haram’s Sambisa camp, targeting the insurgents’ stronghold, which is partly swampy. Some residents believe nature is also helping in the current counter-insurgency operation by the military as the increasing rainfall would make the insurgents’ operational camp in Sambisa forest inhabitable. That is where they plan their evil acts and they won’t have it easy staying there due to the heavy downpour now,” a senior govern­ment official with fair knowledge of the area told Sunday Sun on condition of anonymity.

“It is usually flooded and partly swampy during rainy season and therefore inhabitable even for Boko Haram. They won’t be able to stay there except may be a few building or huts initially built by the state gov­ernment for the Games Reserve,” the official added.

Sunday Sun gathered that some of the insurgents have fled their camps and are now scattered in the bushes. An unconfirmed report indicated one of the fleeing insurgents was caught in Maiduguri last week by members of the youth vigilance group while attempting to maneuver his way into the city. The suspect, who allegedly confessed to be a Boko Haram member, was said to have led the vigilance group and some security personnel to where his colleagues reportedly concealed some of their guns on a farm. Though this account could not be verified as at press time but many residents maintained the suspected Boko Haram member claimed he fled the bush with others as it was becoming unsafe for them to move in groups due to air bombardment by the military.

Another resident claimed the sus­pect alleged that the insurgents were often thrown into disarray each time they sighted an aircraft flying around as they reportedly feared it could be an Air Force fighter jet on their trail.

Deputy Director Army Public Re­lations and spokesman, 7 Division Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Colonel Tukur Gusau said the ongoing mili­tary operations in the northeast have crippled the activities of Boko Ha­ram, stating that this has compelled the insurgents to resort to using donkeys and other unusual tactics to attack some remote communities.

“We have crippled their channels of supply both of fuel, logistics and everything and they’re now in disarray. That is why they have resorted to using donkeys to carry out attacks,” he disclosed on Friday during the burning of over 2, 000 cartons of smoked fish and dried beef confiscated from Boko Haram.

He solicited for the support and cooperation of the people to aid the military by giving useful information that could assist in tracking down the Boko Haram men and ending insurgency in the northeast.

Many people in Borno now be­lieve that the sustained offensive by the military would help curtail Boko Haram activities and eventually end the insurgency.