Chadian President, Idris Derby, has become a hero of sorts since he personally led his country’s military to deal an unprecedented blow to the Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah (JAS), also known as Boko Haram and its splinter, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Triggered by the terrorists’ massacre of about 100 of its soldiers in Bohoma, Chad, in a sweeping air, ground and amphibious operations tagged ‘Operation Boma Anger,’ swooped and destroyed the terrorists’ logistics, assault and defence positions in the Lake Chad Basin.
Launched on Sunday, March 29, 2020, 1,000 terrorists were killed and 52 Chadians died. All the major armouries of the terrorists were captured. The devastation was such that Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, went on video, counseling his fighters to “take heart,” begging them not to run away from battle.
Derby became an instant hero especially to Nigerians who have been waiting for strings of good news from the war against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists. A triumphant and fully satisfied Derby then told journalists that the blood of the fallen soldiers in Bohoma has been revenged. He added: “I can assure all Chadian people today that the entire island zone that borders with Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, there is not a single Boko Haram today in Chad. The little that remains, has returned to Niger, Nigeria or Cameroon. Now we are inside the neighbours (territories).We taught them (Boko Haram/ISWAP) a lesson they will never forget; those of them alive.”
The first thing that came to mind is that Derby’s words were increasingly like orchestrated propaganda at his nationals who he wants to divert their attention from the killing of his troops by his erstwhile surrogates. Then, the disturbing part for me as a Nigerian is that he is also repositioning himself to the international community as the savior of the Sahel, the only one capable of fighting armed groups in the Sahel.
What else can you make of his recent pronouncement of withdrawal from all regional efforts against the terrorists if not to attract international attention, sympathy, funds, arms and continued strongman image. And come to think of this: This may also be a way of ensuring Western support for a coming life Presidency. Next to this, he may also be angling to receive loads of resources from Nigeria as a way to keeping him as a good neighbour and ally. Maybe, he is angling to con Nigeria to forget that he has been a supporter of cross border armed groups and his tantrums may be a way to raise funds.
What Nigerians ought not to forget in a hurry is that the Chadians are patrons of the terrorists. They have always known their whereabouts, locations and the routes they follow as they rampage in Nigeria and surrounding nations. That is why the Chadians, knowing that the Boko Haram terrorists mined the passable roads, usually go cross country and avoid the roads. They did this during their forays into Nigeria in their attempt to wipe out the terrorists from their territory.
What the Chadian leader is claiming credit for, nobody should cry for him. Let the truth be told. Chad has been a major sanctuary of Boko Haram as most of their main fighters are Chadians. The others are the Kanuris and other groups from the old Kanem-Bornu empire. As long as the terrorists didn’t attack Chad or Chadian interests, the terrorists had sanctuary.
Now, they want the world to celebrate that they defeated the same terrorists they were habouring. Isn’t this like a godfather who have a gang that steals for him. And they, for whatever reason, decide to steal from the boss directly and the boss goes for all out revenge against his boys and wants the world to see him as a crime fighter.
So, the Chadians should not be rejoiced with as what they are doing is just propaganda. If there was any sincerity from them, why didn’t they share the information on the coming battle or locations of the terrorists with Nigeria, even though sources said that they were afraid such information may had strayed into Boko Haram hands.
Another thing to note is that as much as they would want Nigerians and their local audience to believe, Chad couldn’t have acted alone. They are a much more reliable ally of the French who have a military base there and the Israelis who are helping them in the fight against terrorism.
In February 2015, after an agreement, Chadian troops entered Nigeria to join the battle against militant Islamist group Boko Haram. This was largely criticized by then President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, APC, calling it the ceding of the war to outside interests. Chadian armoured vehicles and infantry then crossed into Nigeria through a bridge from Cameroon, after combined air strikes and mortar attacks on Boko Haram positions. It then focused on the key city of Gamboru. They also moved into Malumfatori, a Nigerian town which lies near the borders of Chad and Niger, after a ground and air assault against the militants.
Then, Chad entered Nigeria through an agreement. Five years later, last month, they entered freely and left freely without challenge, without informing either the political or military leadership of Nigeria. This is an insult and pain to me as a Nigerian and as a Defence Correpondent who covered the Armed Forces of Nigeria for over two decades. How come the Chadians drove by land and flew their helicopters into the Nigerian territory and Nigerians did nothing.
There should have been protests that they entered a sovereign territory in pursuit of a people they have been granting sanctuary. There was no open protest against the desecration of Nigerians territorial integrity by Foreign Affairs Ministry nor by the troops on ground. Instead, there is a viral showing Nigerian troops hailing them. And whether it is admitted or not, this is a monumental failure on our part as a nation.
This shows that something is wrong with either the command and control structure of the military or the fighting spirit of the soldiers. And this becomes weird as the terrorists, along with their families, while running from the massive Chadian assault, were beating a fast-retreat into Nigerian territories. They amassed from the Lake Chad area and crossed around Magumeri and Gubio areas to the Alagarno axis; a place they named Timbuktu. This was the location where the terrorists massacred Nigerian troops in an ambush on March 22, 2020.
But the most intriguing thing is the Press Statement by the Nigerian Army denying theclaim by a Chadian military officer that his officers who were occupying Nigerian territory on the fringes of Lake Chad region had been waiting to hand over back the territory to Nigerian troops.
Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, said: “The Nigerian Army wishes to state that there is no Chadian or any foreign troops on the Nigerian side of the Lake Chad or in any other part of the Nigerian territory.” For me, this statement was uncalled for, after all, if the Chadians did not enter Nigeria’s territory, what is the use of the all the diplomatic niceties extended to Nigeria in the next one week?
First, the Press Statement by the Chadian Embassy in Abuja last Tuesday was a diplomatic way of saying sorry for the breach of Nigeria’s territorial integrity. The Chadians took it further through Thursday’s visit to Nigeria by the Chadian Minister of Defence to his Nigerian counterpart. The visit should have been used by the Minister of Defence and his handlers as a face-saving opportunity to assert itself as a regional power.
After all, it is the absence of Nigeria’ military and diplomatic might and assertions that is making a country like Chad and its President to play around as a giant. Yet, this was the Nigeria that single handedly dictated the pace of events in the West African sub-region in the 1990s, both militarily and diplomatically, through the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). ECOMOG forced and enforced peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Yet, in our own backyard, before our very face, Chad and its President is making us make smaller and smaller. Already, there is apprehension among residents and political leaders in Borno State following the influx of displaced Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists into the State after they were attacked and chased away by Chadian troops. This should be the pre-occupation of the military.
So, let the giant in this nation and its military rise again. At least, a jackal is a lion in its own backyard. But when (or while) the cat’s away, the mice will play. This nation has been too absent when its presence and might should matter. Wake up, the Armed Forces of Nigeria! Wake up, Nigeria.
Madu Onuorah, a veteran Defence Correspondent, is CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Global Upfront Newspapers
