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
The Nigerian army which has been monitoring Cameroonian moves have forward positioned field artillery troops and air assets. The army has said it will have no choice than to send troops across the river that demarcates both countries and create a buffer on the other side.
Militarily it is a mismatch. Cameroon has a standing army of 14,000 men. Nigeria has a standing army of 250,000 and another 50,000 in reserve. The disparity in air power is even more ridiculous. These are delibrate unprovoked attacks designed to elicit a response from Nigeria.
Its like there is disappointment when that response never materialize so they try again. There seems to be a foreign power prodding Cameroon to ply the path of confrontation with Nigeria with assurance of military support should hostilities erupt.
Cameroonian troops have received training from U.S and French troops despite horrific human rights atrocities. The U.S has a drone base in Garoua 60km from the Nigerian border.
Here we see Cameroonian soldiers leading a woman and child to an unknown location, blindfolding her with her baby at her back and executing. All hell will break lose if images of Nigerian troops carrying out such horrific attacks ever came out.
We are not privy to the information the Defence intelligence or army intelligence are privy of, neither do we know why Nigeria continues to exercise restraint. But we do know that field artillery forces are the standoff attack component of the army. From the safety of Nigerian
..territory military bases and other targets are well within range of the 155s and 122s. Not since the days of Abacha has offensive field artillery units been deployed to the Cameroon border.
Once again we are witnessing the same ole dynamics at play. Each time the Nigerian
..military is making serious gains we have anyone front. It used to be Boko Haram and herdesmen. When that wasnt enough we had ISWAP. When ISWAP was being dealt a decisive blow bandits pop out of no where. When bandits was at the receiving end of a reinvigorated military
..we had Sheikh Gumi calling for an end to hostilities and Amnesty for Bandits. Then we had a resurgent Boko Haram. A resurgent ISWAP. But there has been a paradigm shift. We now have a revamped military. After years of delays the Super Tucano
..is finally here. Complimented by the JF-17 fighters, both with precision guided munitions. Wing Loong II and CH-4 armed attack drones with PGMs as well, 3rd Gen. Battle Tanks, Tank Destroyers and long range artillery. The result is there for all to see. For the first time
..since the insurgency, we have witnessed the mass surrendering of fighters. Over 15,000 so far. Four top ISWAP commanders eliminated within a month. They have installed a new commander. Chances are he will meet the same fate in a matter of days or weeks.
It has become clear the Nigerian military is now too powerful for any armed insurgency to effectively contain. The likes of Sowore and Omokri with their $500,000 grants have tried their best, but its has not been enough to stir insurrection and make Nigeria ungovernable.
Suddenly we are faced with a hostile belligerent neighbour staging unprovoked attacks. Taunting Nigeria in a manner that, frankly makes no sense. Another front designed to force the military to divert forces away from the front to meet this new challenge,
..and "hopefully" stretch the already overstretched Nigerian military to near breaking point.
Anybody who thinks these events are random and there's nothing to it is in denial.
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France is closing 2023 with a diminished presence in the restive Sahel region and Al-Qaeda is livid with rage against the putchist in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, going as far as calling them trecherous.
The leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb recently released a 22 minutes tape where he branded the new military rulers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali "treacherous"and called on the citizens of these countries to turn on their leaders.
Why is AQIM upset about the French exit
from the Sahel and lashing out at the junters? It's bad for business.
The supply of money and weapons has come under threat. They've been raking in millions thanks to the geopolitical aspirations of a former colonial power determined to maintain a strategic foothold in Africa.
Nigeria gave France 48 hours to close down its Embassy in Lagos and to pack out of the country in retaliation against France exploding three nuclear devices in the Sahara despite vehement protests by Nigeria and other newly independent
African countries. Nigeria also banned French ships and aeroplanes from calling at her ports. The French Embassy in Lagos remained shut until October 1965. This unprecedented demonstration of power and resolve by an African country was a source of worry for France.
The French were worried that the size and potential strength of Nigeria might lead to a re-orientation of French West African countries away from France and towards Nigeria. Paris was preoccupied with the re-establishment and preservation of French imperial power which had been
For the NAF to transform it's self from a tactical, defensive force within Nigeria to one capable of strategic missions beyond territorial borders we need to up our numbers game.
The NAF already has the quality based on current and projected platforms.
A decade+ long insurgency, that necessitated on-going reforms changed the NAF's equipment priorities, from modernizing high tech hardware to platforms optimized for COIN and network-centric warfare.
The air force has progressed considerably towards building
and fielding a formidable force, and has assumed responsibilities that accompany the projection of national power in the sub region.
Only problem is the limited number of air superiority fighters. The smallest number of fighters in decades.
Still feeling under the weather 🤕. It gets worse as evening approaches.
However, after going through the comment section I've decided it's time to make the case for an ECOWAS intervention in Niger before analysing the capabilities of the potential belligerent of this crises.
ECOWAS weak response to recent coup 'd'etats paved the way for what is now a belt of dictatorships that stretches all the way from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and now Niger. They plotters gained the perception that ECOWAS is weak and could be challenged.
Failure of the regional bloc to respond militarily gave them the perception that they can push ECOWAS further without ramifications.
The latest coup in Niger has fundamentally changed the region. A new cold war between democratic states and military junta's...
In 1983 Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari, GOC of the 3rd Division in Jos flushed out Chadian forces that invaded Nigerian communities in dramatic fashion. 40 years later he presides over what is arguably the biggest military build-up in Nigeria's history.
The President realised the nation was in need of an overhaul of the military. Nigeria had been humiliated in the early stages of the insurgency and the terrorists seemed secure in their unrelenting mission of conquest. Boko Haram captured and occupied 22 LGA's in the northeast.
The Nigerian military was plagued by low morale, low pay, outdated equipment, and zero maintenance on what did exist. Soldiers were tired. It just wasn't worth it to them. There were instances of soldiers refusing to fight. Some fleeing to Cameroon on two occasions.
NAF A-29 with its panoply of GBU Paveway II laser guided bombs, 70mm rockets with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) and 589 kilogram bombs. The cutting edge of American precision guided munitions and the NAF is the only in sub-sahara Africa to employ them.
The GBU paveway II integrates the most advanced guidance system that basically converts "dumb" Gravity bombs into precision guided munitions. A semi-active laser seeker and pneumatically controlled canards guide the weapon to its targets with pin point accuracy.
Enter the hydra rockets.
In their basic configurations these are basic 70mm unguided rockets. Not different from unguided rockets used by the L-39ZA or Alpha jets.
However the APKWS they came with transforms these "dumb" rockets into laser-guided weapons.