The
Nigerian military has made a really startling discovery inside Sambisa
forest during an operation that ended the reign of Boko Haram.
Nigerian soldiers on the battlefield
The mysterious white man captured by Nigerian soldiers during last
week’s storming of Boko Haram’s headquarters in the Sambisa Forest is a
Frenchman and he specializes in repairing and unlocking armoured
personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment, Daily Trust learnt from
authoritative military sources yesterday.
The white man’s identity is being concealed by the Federal
Government and military authorities for diplomatic reasons, the sources
also said.
Defence Headquarters has been silent on the development since the
news broke last Friday, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari
announced that Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the Sambisa forest,
Borno State had been overrun by troops. Soldiers who took part in the
operation told our correspondent yesterday that a white man was actually
arrested in the Sambisa forest and that he has been providing “credible
information” to military authorities.
A source said, “He was arrested along the Bama axis of the
Sambisa forest and agreed to give vital information provided he would be
spared. I learnt that he is from France but authorities do not want to
make his real identity known for diplomatic reasons…They don’t want to
jeopardize the success recorded.” Although some sources only said
the captured white man is “from Western Europe,” Daily Trust learnt that
he is actually a Frenchman. All Nigeria’s neighbours in the North East,
namely Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad are French speaking.
The French embassy in Nigeria did not respond to email and text message sent to it for comment yesterday.
How top officers led Sambisa offensive
The one month long military offensive that led to the capture of
Sambisa Forest last Thursday was led by “the best hands” in the Nigerian
Army and Air Force, sources close to the operation told Daily Trust
yesterday. Before the renewed offensive to reclaim the dreaded forest
where Boko Haram fighters held sway since 2013, officers between the
ranks of Lieutenants, Captains and Majors normally led operations,
sources said. This time around, more senior officers led the operation
on all fronts during the final onslaught. It was gathered that the
officers, besides various trainings they obtained at home, have been
trained abroad and had participated in serious military operations.
The 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) vast Sambisa Forest had
been the nightmare of the Nigerian security forces, including their
foreign allies, who provided various security reports over the years. It
was gathered that some of the fighting troops were mobilized with light
rocket propelled grenades [RPGs], weapons they did not use previously.
The light RPGs, according to one of our sources, could be carried on by
soldiers on their shoulders for long distances because of their light
weight and were used against far flung targets.
“With the exception of one major of the Nigerian Army, all the
commanding officers that led the 4,200 troops into the Sambisa Forest
are of the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel,” a soldier who
participated in the operation said. He said “the Bama axis was led by a
Colonel who viciously decimated many Boko Haram fighters. Together with
his troops, he captured Alafa 1, 11 and 111 in the Sambisa Forest and
freed over 1,000 people. He also captured nearly 500 suspects, mostly
men who are being interrogated for having links with the Boko Haram.”
According to him, “some of the suspects are claiming that they
were forcefully conscripted into the violent group while others have
admitted that they belong to the group.” Another source said the Konduga/Aulari axis of the Sambisa Forest was captured by a daring army Major.
“This Major is one of the heroes in the Nigerian Army. He was
very close to the late Lieutenant Colonel Abu Ali of blessed memory. He
knows the Sambisa Forest very well and was therefore directed to
approach the forest through the infamous Gate One,” the source said. He added, “The
Ngurosoye axis of the Sambisa Forest was led by a Lieutenant Colonel
who is also a fearless and versatile officer. His 151 Battalion is known
as Blocking Force. His troops recovered many AK47 rifles of fleeing
Boko Haram insurgents and they also freed many women and children.”
The real operation
Sources said during the planning to re-take Sambisa Forest, Chief
of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Tukur Buratai frequented Maiduguri
almost on daily basis. “Sometimes he passed the night there (in
Maiduguri) and sometimes he went back to Abuja. He personally commanded
the general operation,” an officer who craved for anonymity said.
He said radar with monitors was mounted at the 7 Division of the
Nigerian Army and everything, including troop movement; logistics,
ground operation and aerial reconnaissance both day and night were
closely monitored with precision.
He said, “The close monitoring from Maiduguri helped a great
deal in reducing mistakes. This gave the troops the confidence to
relentlessly march on during operations. The fact that the mine
detectors deployed to the Sambisa forest also demobilized all the bombs
planted by the insurgents gave our troops added impetus. The mine
detectors normally detonated most of the IEDs with ease and also cleared
the terrain for armoured vehicles to move freely.”
The source that added some Boko Haram commanders and foot soldiers
who were arrested long ago and “de-radicalized” were also imbedded in
the operation. “The repentant insurgents, some members of the
civilian JTF and local vigilantes know the Sambisa Forest very well, far
better than the maps we used in the operation and therefore, they
assisted greatly in helping us to locate hideouts. Also, sophisticated
fighter jets and drones that have capacity to monitor things as far as
away as 600 meters were deployed to the Sambisa forest and worked day
and night,” he said.
The fall of ‘Camp Zero’
A military officer told our correspondent that this was not the
first time attempt made to capture “Camp Zero” in Sambisa Forest where
the factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau used as his hide out
on different occasions. “This is the second time Camp Zero is taken.
The first was during the JTF (Joint Task Force) in June 2013 before it
(JTF) was disbanded and the area was lost completely,” the officer said.
He said despite the success recorded, there is worry among the
military high command because some of the things expected to be
recovered at the building were not found. “It is likely they (Boko
Haram) are somewhere because they moved away with their equipment and
prized possessions, including the Chibok girls in possession of Shekau
group,” he said.
He said there were other dreaded cells that have been deserted by
the Boko Haram terrorists, such as the ones in Kareto and Gudumbali at
the height of offensive last year and another one in Kukawa which was
reclaimed this year. It was learnt that while some of the Chibok girls
and other captives are with the Shekau camp, many of them are with the
Mamman Nur faction, led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, son of the group’s late
Mohammed Yusuf. They are suspected to be held in cells in northern
Borno State.
“Camp Zero has for a long time been an objective for our troops
but it is not the end of Sambisa in the true sense of the crisis. Boko
Haram terrorists have been trained in the art of war, so it is likely
they moved away for tactical reasons,” he said. The source said the
COAS, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole as well as the GOCs
of the army’s 3, 7 and 8 Divisions and other key Army Headquarters
officers held a marathon meeting on December 24 and continued meeting
yesterday on the operations in the North East. “They had a break on the
25th because of Christmas and they went to open the roads from Maiduguri
to Damasak and to Baga. Their main concern in the meeting is the
disappearance of Boko Haram leaders with their equipment and lack of
trace of the Chibok girls,” the officer said.
Sources said beside the equipment found there, Boko Haram fighters
had raided many workshops and laboratories in schools around the Sambisa
Forest in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and had fabricated fighting
equipment and chemicals with the facilities they carted away.
There is controversy as to how Camp Zero actually looked like.
While some soldiers that participated in the operation said it has two
underground buildings and tunnels as well as hardware and equipment for
the training of the disbanded National Guards, some officers told our
correspondent that the place was actually inherited from the Sambisa
Game Reserve.
“The National Guard were to train there but were never there. A
team went to inspect the place in the 80s but the movement and training
did not hold. The solid structure there belonged to the forest
management authority,” he said.
***
Via Daily Trust
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