SUSTAIN THE ATTACKS

Oru Leonard 

On Tuesday, May 19th, 2026, the Defense Headquarters (DHQ), in a statement by its Director of Information, Major General Samaila Uba, said ongoing joint counter terrorism operations by Nigerian troops and the United States Africa Command( US-ARICOM) in the North East had gathered significant traction.

To justify this position, the DHQ reeled out a number of successful operations. According to the DHQ, its assessment as at May 19th, showed that 175 ISIS/ISWAP militants had been eliminated from the battle field through sustained ground and air assaults.

As a result of these assaults, several high-profile terrorist commanders were killed. They include:Abd-al Wahhab, an ISWAP commander responsible for coordinating attacks and propaganda activities; Abu Musa al-Mangawi, a senior ISWAP member; and Abu al-Muthanna al Muhajir, a senior media production manager and close associate of Abu-Bilal Minuki.

The statement said the operations had led to the destruction of terrorist checkpoints, weapons caches, logistics hubs, military equipment, and financial networks used to sustain insurgent activities.

It is worthy to note that these assaults came shortly after the neutralization of terror kingpin, Abu-Bilal Minuki, with several of his lieutenants ensconced in a compound in the Lake Chad Basin. The assaults also came after the killing of more than twenty(20) ISIS/ISWAP fighters at Metele, Borno State.

Al-Minuki had been under U.S. sanctions since 2003. He was labeled a “global terrorist” in 2023. As at his death, he was the second in command of ISIS, and a Sahel-based senior leader. In that vantage position, he was part of ISIL’s General Directorate of Provinces which provides “operational guidance and funding around the world”.

By every reckoning and benchmark, ISIL’s global operation was “greatly diminished” by al-Minuki’s death. Our Armed Forces deserve praise for vaporizing him and his fellow travelers.

Yet these accomplishments are tame when compared with the swathe of recent abductions and acts of terror that took place across the country. Consider the gory catalogue:

On Friday, May 15th 2026, armed bandits carried co-ordinated attacks on Local Education Authority(L.E.A.) Primary School, Ahoro-Esinele, Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, and the Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota – all in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. They abducted a High School Principal, seven(7) Teachers, thirty(30) Learners and Students. One of the Teachers has since been killed by the bandits.

On the same fateful day, not less than forty(40) Learners/Students were abducted by suspected Boko Haram terrorists from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
Last week, suspected members of the Lakurawa terror group killed seven(7) soldiers in an ambush at Runji village in Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Trigger-happy bandits, in broad daylight, attacked Guga Grains Market in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State. They shot indiscriminately and killed innocents. One of their victims was a pregnant woman.

A delegation of would-be pilgrims led by the District Head of Jangebe in Zamfara State was attacked by armed bandits. They killed the District Head on the spot and abducted the would-be pilgrims plus a Councilor.

Last week, a former member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State, Anas Abba Adamu, died in captivity after he was abducted on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway. His abduction, following several others on the same Highway, has evoked fears of the nightmare commuters endured in the hands of vile kidnappers on that Highway a few years ago. These fears are justified given the upsurge of kidnappings for ransom and wanton killings particularly between the Jere-Bwari stretch that by-passes the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.

Also last week, Boko Haram militants killed twenty-seven(27) fishermen at Mafa and six(6) loggers at Dikwa, both in Borno State.

Certainly, the recent assault on terrorists, which has been stridently canvassed by Nigerians, is commendable. This is more so that these operations, unlike the recent air interdictions in Borno, Niger and Zamfara States, were precise. There was no collateral damage. Also, our Armed Forces did not suffer any casualties.

Commendable as these joint assaults by Nigerian and American troops were, our Armed Forces should not rest on their oars or be content with basking in their glow. Instead, these achievements should goad and galvanize them to go on the offensive. The attacks should be relentless and sustained until the greater mission of decimating the terrorists and attaining victory is accomplished.

Henceforth, and in tandem with these latest successes, our Armed Forces should act only when there is credible, precise and unimpeachable intelligence. This will ensure that our air interdictions are not accompanied with collateral damage or the controversy/emotion any error generates.

Additionally, at all times, our Armed Forces must be seen to be proactive and to take the initiative. This gives them the advantages of the element of surprise and being on top of their game. A situation where they tend to react to attacks unwittingly gives the edge to the terrorists. This should not be so given the professional heft of our Armed Forces.

As our Armed Forces prosecute the war on terror, they must continually learn from and interrogate their manifest shortcomings. Such interrogations should generate lessons to be learned and inform/necessitate changes in strategy. Why, for instance, were their bases and commanders sitting ducks to be picked on easily by the terrorists?

In the aftermath of the abduction of 276 school children in Chibok on 14th April 2014, the Safe Schools Initiative, spearheaded by former U.K. Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was inaugurated. Not less than $30million was contributed chiefly to construct safe classrooms, fences and provide guards for vulnerable schools in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. What happened to the funds? How come the schools in Mussa were left unprotected? What strategies are we fashioning out to secure our schools, Learners, Students and Teachers? To these, after all, belong the future.

Photo Credit: BBC