Thread by @DefenseNigeria

History that Deserves to be Remembered April 2020.

The Great MASKIROVSKA !!

In April 2020 the territorial integrity of Nigeria came under a serious threat. It was threatening enough for the president to summon Borno Governor, Babagana Zulum to explain the activities of Chadian forces in Lake Chad and the threat it poses to Nigeria's national security.

The last time such an incident occurred was during the Chadian invasion of Lake Chad in April 1983.

Gen M Buhari was the Commander 21 Armoured Brigade, based in Jos and was tasked with defending the homeland and flushing out the invaders.

This time he is President.

The man who commanded the failed invasion of Lake Chad was also commanding this operation. Only time, as President as well.

So what happened?

Even before officially becoming President, the "President elect" had threatening punitive actions against Chad over its alleged connivance with Boko Haram. He was so irate with reports coming in, that rather than wait for renovation work on the Presidential Villa to be completed

President Buhari summoned the Service Chiefs to his private residence and fired them on the spot. By this time BHT was running a proto state in Chadian territory around Lake Chad. Abuja's request to Ndjamena to deny ISWAP sanctuary in Chad fell on deaf ears.

..and so for years ISWAP was allowed the freedom to do as they please in Lake Chad, especially Lac Province. Derby had hoped Nigeria will buckle and fragment under the sheer weight of the insurgency. It never happened. Remember the CIA prediction as well? Never happened.

With Nigeria exhibiting no sign of a country on the verge of collapse, but instead rapidly modernizing its armed forces, and his old nemesis in charge, he knew his chances of taking those hydrocarbon rich Lake Chad islands was getting slimmer.

It's NOW or NEVER !

This was when bizzare incident that makes no sense started happening.

Dozens of BHT/ISWAP insurgents attacked a Chadian army base, and for TEN HOURS a few dozen insurgents prevented Chadian, French and U.S forces stationed 70km away from coming to their aid until

..the insurgents casually made their way back on boats.

With the lives of 100 Chadian troops sacrificed, Derby declared war on Boko Haram. He vowed to avenge the death of the slain Chadian soldiers, and with a film crew for recording events, he began his campaign.

TARGET?

The same BHT/ISWAP he refused to go after all these years. But rather than eliminate the insurgents, he pushed thousands of BHT/ISWAP fighters into Nigeria. A few fighters were killed and photographed for propaganda of course.

But suddenly thousands upon thousands of terrorists from Chad started pouring into Nigeria via an escape corridor, nearly overwhelming the Nigerian military. Nigeria was now fighting on multiple fronts. Chadian forces began massing near the border with Borno State.

With Nigeria bugged down with fighting, the Chadian strongman then asked the Israeli Air Force to map out the Lake Chad islands in their entirety, including all natural and artificial tributaries, all without consulting members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

It became clear the whole operation was a Maskirovska designed to distract and bug down the Nigerian military while he makes a second attempt on those Lake Chad.

The two generals that faced off in April 1983 were once again in a face off.

President Buhari's action was swift. Rather than voiced opposition, two Battalion of Nigerian Army Amphibious Brigade was deployed to the Lake Chad islands. Thousands more Nigerian troops were deployed to bolster frontline units, including Navy SBS Commandos and NAF Panthers

For Idris Derby it was clear his plan has failed. The element of surprise was gone. The thousands of insurgents he pushed into Nigeria only had the opposite effect of forcing Nigeria to bolster and modernize its military capability without compromise.

His next action was impulsive driven, out of anger and vindictive. He attempted to come out the winner in all of this by embarassing the Nigerian government.

He organized a Press conference where he urged the international media to prevail on the Nigerian government

to come occupy its territory liberated by Chadian forces. He claimed Nigeria was not doing enough in the fight and Chad was bearing the burden alone. He even gave the Nigerian government a one week ultimatum to come occupy its territory or he will pull out Chadian troops.

At this point the usually quiet Nigerian army broke character by issuing a strong rebuttal against his claims..

...and a stern warning....