Event Summary:
Nigeria’s military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman on August 30th said that that the Nigerian military had made significant gains on the Boko Haram have discovering and taking control over the militants bomb factory.
Some of the materials that were aimed at building a VBIED including a vehicle, gas cylinders, fertilizers and other semi-complete bomb particles.
The factory was located along Maiduguri-Bulabulin road in Borno state and was discovered when 25 Task Force Brigade cordoned and searched the Sandia, Kokakowa and Nyaleri in Borno State.
Analysis:
Troops from the 25 Task Force Brigade did a sweep in Borno State of Nigeria by setting barricades and thorough search operations especially in Sandia, Kokakowa and Nyaleri. In their cordon they discovered the Boko Harams bomb factory that is set up along Maiduguri-Bulabulin road.
In the operations they were able to recover materials that are used to build VBIED together with a vehicle on which the bomb material recovered was purportedly to be attached on, gas cylinders, fertilizers among other weapons.
Additionally, the troops were able to arrest two key Boko Haram leaders; a local emir of the militants and another suspected to be the bomb-maker. The two are now being questions in a bid to gather intelligence on the intended targets as well as some of the operations of the Islamists.
The announcement came the same weekend as 500 days commemoration of the abduction of the Chibok girls and the execution of 10 Boko Haram members in Chad and arrest of key organization leaders that were trying to form a network in Lagos.
Conclusion and Forecast:
Barely a fortnight since President Buhari issued an ultimatum to the defense forces to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency, significant gain has been experienced especially in the North East of Nigeria which is the core. This has been signified by the increased deployment to the most Boko Haram-prone areas.
The Nigeria troops both ground and Air Force have tightened the noose on Boko Haram’s stronghold in the Sambisa Forest where airstrikes have increased further pushing the militants away and closer into yielding and conceding defeat.
The multinational taskforce headquartered in Chad is mounting pressure on them and reducing the number of cross-borders attack of the Western caliphate of the Islamic State.
With the current war waged against the militants slowly closing in on them, it is just a matter of time before Boko Haram’s kingpins concede ending their violent campaigns both in Nigeria and across the region ending the years of bloodshed, violent atrocities and sectarian war.
