Key Highlights
- A convoy carrying Nigeria’s chief of army staff was Sunday 23nd August ambushed by Boko Haram militants.
- The attack came hours before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Abuja
- Ban Ki-Moon was in Abuja to discuss ways to combat extremism.
- The convoy was touring Borno state
- Among those traveling in the convoy was Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai who was appointed as the new chief of army staff in July.
- One Nigerian soldier died and 10 militants were killed during the attack. Another five militants were also arrested.
Analysis
Boko Haram strength in Nigeria appears to be deteriorating assessing from the power they started with. Their well-organized ambush was cleverly thwarted by Nigeria’s chief of army staff convoy. In the military’s effort, at least 10 Boko Haram militants were killed.
Boko Haram operations were started on a high note in 2002, with the militants initially focusing on opposing Western-style education.
The militants killed thousands, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls. Boko Haram joined Islamic State, and now calls itself “West African province”, targeting Nigeria and her neighbors including Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.
The target countries have formed a task force to fight Boko Haram insurgency. The task force has won a number of victories against the jihadi group in recent months and successfully pushed them back from all but one of their strongholds. The Borno State has continuously been plagued by terror.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari gave Gen Tukur Buratai and other military chiefs a three-month deadline to defeat Boko Haram. The military, with the regional task force backing is working under intense pressure to defeat the militants.
