From 2014 to 2019 ISWAP fighters rained down terror on Nigeria. When the fighting gets too intense they slip across the border to the relative safety of their enclaves in the Lake Chad basin, beyond the reach of the NAF. They engaged in commerce, got married, built a fishing
..industry, even setup quasi government without fear. The presence of U.S and French drone bases meant nothing, as for some bizzare reason they were allowed to congregate, hold meetings, plan attack, carry out the attacks in Nigeria and return home to their wives.
All this happening within striking range of MQ-9 Reaper drones staged in Niger and Chad less than 80km away. They knew the NAF lacked the range to hit those targets.The fastest aircraft in the NAF arsenal, F-7Ni able to fly at twice the speed of sound is notoriously short legged
It was designed to be a high speed interceptor, able to scramble and high speed and intercept enemy aircraft, but even with conformal fuel tanks the F-7Ni could barely stay airborne for 15 minutes on afterburners.
The L-39ZA's and Alpha jets are trainer planes with secondary light attack capabilities. Lacking the range and payload.
But those staging basis was not going to be allowed in perpetuity. The NAF finally have the pre-requisite aircrafts to hit any target in the Lake Chad basin or deep inside Chadian territory without apology, and this time with standoff munitions.
..and the NAF wasted no time in putting these assets to work, hitting targets in Lac Province with alarming effectiveness. The topography of these islands is flat and featureless, so there is no natural cover. With Lac Province no longer offering the protection like
..it once did, ISWAP relocated to the jungles of the northeast sometimes joining forces with Boko Haram. The death of Shekau gave ISWAP the opportunity to incoporate his fighters and relocate into the forests due to the illusion of security the thick jungle canopies provided.
It was in these same forests three of ISWAPS top commanders were killed. Bombs falling into their camps in the dead of night without the sound of a single airplane drove many to the edge. Thousands surrendered especially those with families. This was not what they sign up for.
With the forests offering no such protection ISWAP relocated back to Lake Chad, this time around to the Tunbuns, Malam Fatori and localities.
Working alongside the army and naval components under Operarion Hadin Kai, the NAF has for weeks dealt an even more decisive blow to insurgents. The insurgents wereabouts are known but the NAF made the tactical decision to give them a false sense of security by
..not hitting small groups of fighters hibernating in the area, choosing instead to wait it out until
they have meetings where they congregate in high concentrations by the hundreds before hitting them hard. Decimating the ranks of their top echelons.
In one such strike 20 boats ferrying ISWAP insurgents for a meeting before an attack was hit by the NAF.
Now for some bizzare reasons we have certain media outlets, perhaps out of nothing to write about but still needing to dish out content writing about ISWAPs ingenuity.
One such outlets writes
QUOTE
ISWAP’s ability to capture, modify, and utilise motorised vehicles, as well as navigate water bodies with boats, has allowed the group to sustain terror campaigns and state like activities in Northeast Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin.
The Toyota Hilux captured in ambushes and raids on national forces and partners make up a significant segment of the vehicles in the ISWAP inventory deployed with ground assault and anti-aircraft weapon systems.
END QUOTE
On the surface this looks like a big deal. In reality its vague, bland and lacks depth. Putting words together to make for an interesting read while at the same time telling us nothing. The editorial then goes on and on about ISWAP military capabilities, their ingenuity,
..and the inability of the Nigerian military to respond effectively. The editorial ends with a plea for money.
"Donation to support journalism".
I am pointing this out because this is a big problem. People who only care social media success and revenue. Their motivation
..is to cash in on the conflict without a care on how their skewed and negative reportage affects morale of both insurgents and our troops. It so much easier to be critical but much harder to be objective. Ninety nine present of the editorials
..you read about by social media influencers and bloggers have one central theme. Dig up stories of military setbacks, dig up flattering photos of insurgents, put them together, post, and then ask for money and donations in the most comical of ways..
To quote one
QUOTE
To ensure that we continue to provide public service coverage, we have a small favour to ask you. We want you to be part of our journalistic endeavour by contributing a taken to us. Your donation will further promote a free, and independent media.
END
If your business model depends on sensational stories of insurgent exploits and military setbacks it means you have an obligation to keep dishing out negative contents about the war effort to stay in business, so they keep digging and digging. No concience. All they see is MONEY
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Cameroonian troops yesterday crossed the border into Nigeria, shooting sporadically and sending Nigerians fleeing, some taking refuge in camps for internally displaced persons.
This is a calculated offensive from Cameroon
on Nigeria. They have yet again shown outright defiance to Nigeria’s territorial sovereignty and dammed the consequences of crossing the international boundary to intimidate and harass already alarmed citizens.
The govt owned media in Cameroon accuse Nigeria of sheltering Anglophone insurgents. Since the media is governments owned, it means the Yaounde is preparing the people for any eventuality. This is the second such incursion in the space of one month
After 44 watsed years of military dictatorship Nigeria returned to democratic governance in 2000. The first three years was peaceful. GDP grew at a staggering 200%. Since then Nigeria has been mirred by a myriad of security challenges and strife for 18 uninterrupted years.
We built the largest economy, greatest infrastructure, greatest music and film industry, a high tech hub...all on the back of epileptic power supply and one insurgency after another. Can you imagine what will happen if we had just a decade of stability to focus on development?
Three decades of peace transformed China into a worlds infrastructural juggernaut. In one year alone China built a high speed rail network of over 10,000 km, far exceeding that in any other country and larger than the network in the European Union.
Someone asked why most of the latest generation of equipments recently procured by the army can be traced to one Chinese arms manufaturer "Norincho". Why not diversify he said.
Well, diversity for one has done more harm than good.
There used to be a time in this country when weapons were procured without taking maintenance into considerations, resulting in various equipment from different manufacturers. The result of all these uncoordinated procurement left half the armys equipment unservicable.
This was compounded by the lack of adequate spares and trained technicians, making maintenance of equipment difficult. At the end of the day most of these equipments finally ended up in a junk yard.
China now has the largest navy in the world in numbers of surface fleet. Although China still lags begind the U.S Navy in terms of overall tonnage.
The PLAN has a surface fleet of 360 surface vessels
Beijing has six nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) that are armed with nuclear missiles and 40 attack submarines, of which six are nuclear-powered.
Another classic example of the mutually beneficial relationship between terrorist organizations and the media. ISWAP is adept at exploiting the media for the benefit of their operational efficiency and propaganda schemes.
Terrorists media related goals are the same: attention, recognition, and perhaps even a degree of respectability and legitimacy in their various publics. Media, in return, receives the attention of the public that is vital for its existence and benefits from huge audiences.
Its fair to argue that the mutually beneficial relationship between terrorism and today’s media is a problem. This symbiosis is indeed worth examining in greater detail, as it is as vicious and dangerous as it is largely overlooked.
Two days ago i received unconfirmed reports that Nigeria is interested in aquiring more combat drones from Turkey and amoured vehicles. I cannot report on it because they are "unverified" (but highly plausible) reports.
Woke up to news that a senior US senator Bob Menendez has proposed measures targeting Turkey’s defense sector exports . He introduced measures to put Turkey’s drone program under harsh scrutiny. Menendez’ seek to tighten US tracking and reporting on the national security
implications of Turkey’s drone exports. How Turkeys drone exports todeveloping countries pose a national security threat to the U.S is hard to fathtom. The senator has claimed that Turkey’s drone sales are “dangerous, destabilizing and a threat to peace and human rights.”