Defence Headquarters yesterday declared wanted 9 leaders of a new jihadist group, ‘Lakurawas’ in Sokoto State whose incursion and entry into five border communities of the state was made possible by an alleged laxity and lackluster vigilance of the local populace whom it claimed initially embraced the Islamic sect in their midst without alert security forces.
It will be recalled that media reports had quoted the state’s Deputy Governor Idris Gobir while receiving participants of Course 33 of the National Defence College in Sokoto recently requested concerted efforts of the armed forces to dislodge the jihadists who he disclosed had imposed Islamic laws, taxes and levies on the affected communities.
Director Defence Media Operations at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Major General Edward Buba on Thursday in Abuja at the regular bi-weekly media briefing on activities and operational successes recorded in the various operational theaters within all the six geo-political zones of the country, gave further insight into the new jihadist sect, saying that the failure of the local populace to immediately alert security forces of the presence of the invaders from the Sahel countries of Mali and Niger was responsible for the security lapse.
Major General Edward Buba allayed fears of increased operations and spread of the sect, saying that gallant and courageous troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria were already locating them and eliminating their threat. He gave the assurance that troops had sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to degrade the terrorists.
He disclosed that the new terror group emerged from the Republic of Niger after the coup that led to the breakdown of military cooperation between Nigeria and Niger, adding that the terrorists began incursion into northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi States from the Niger Republic and Mali axis, particularly after the coup in Niger Republic.
According to him, prior to the coup, there were joint border operations with Nigerien security forces which kept the terrorists at bay.
“The terrorists took advantage of the gaps in cooperation between both countries and exploited difficult terrains to make incursions in remote areas in some North Western states to spread their ideology,” he said.
He further revealed that the group was accommodated by the locals who initially thought that the group meant well for them, adding that they failed to report their movement to the military and security agencies thereby failing a major test of caution and vigilance.
“Accordingly, the military will continue work decisively to kill the terrorists, stop the insecurity in the nation and ensure the safety of citizens. The armed forces remain in a good and strong position in this war, and will win this war”, he said.
He added that the terror group had continued to take advantage of the vast under-governed areas to hide and evade troops as well as harass the locals.
“Troops have done a tremendous job of significantly dismantling the terror groups across the country, in various theatres of operations. Our strategy remains to undermine the ability of these terror groups and their cohorts.
“Troops conducted simultaneous strikes on several terrorist enclaves and hideouts across the country. The Air Force carried out bombardments and air interdiction on these terrorist hideouts and enclaves with precision, thereby diminishing the fighting capabilities of these terrorist.
“Truly, the terrorists know that they cannot match our military strength. The options open to them is to surrender or be killed in the battlefield.
“Accordingly, some terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants have indicated to surrender. We are opening a surrendering corridor for that purpose’’, he noted.
Major General Edward Buba who was solemn while fighting back tears in deep emotion led the defence correspondents at the start of the briefing to observe a minute’s silence on the sudden death of former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja (who was his fellow Regular Course 39 mate at the Nigerian Defence Academy).
He said that winning the war on terror and delivering national peace was the best means of honouring the departed dogged fighter, leader and war general.
“On the whole, even as the armed forces mourn the tragic passing away of the COAS, Lt Gen TA Lagbaja. We will not allow his passing to derail our focus to destroy the terrorists. We are rather inspired by his actions on the battlefield as a war commander as well as his strong desire to defeat the terrorist in order to end the war’’, he said.
“It is noteworthy, to state that, in October 2024, troops neutralized 481 terrorists. Other details are that, troops arrested 741 persons including terrorist. Troops also rescued 492 kidnapped hostages.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 480 weapons and 9,026 assorted ammunitions whilst they denied the oil theft of an estimated sum of close to N4billion (N3, 896, 400, 960.00) only.
“Breakdown for the month of October includes and is not limited to the following: 263 AK47 rifles, 81 locally fabricated guns, 91 dane guns, 76 pump action guns, 5,683 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,944 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 642 cartridges, 160 assorted arms and 1,526 assorted ammunitions. Others are 3,226,645 litres of stolen crude oil, 763,860 litres of illegally refined AGO and 12,690 litres of PMS amongst other item.
