Boosted by recent successes in Konduga and Bazza, commanders of Nigeria’s armed troops in the northeast are drawing up an ambitious tactical plan for a new offensive aimed at recovering territory seized by Islamist insurgents in the last two months.
Several military sources at Defense Headquarters in Abuja as well as field commanders told SaharaReporters that Nigerian troops have retaken Bazza, a town in Adamawa State earlier seized by militants. An earlier attempt by the army to recapture Bazza was repelled by Boko Haram insurgents. Lieutenant Colonel Adeboye Obasanjo, a son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was injured in that earlier battle when insurgents ambushed his platoon.
One army source waxed confident, telling our correspondent that the days of Boko Haram occupying any significant territory in northeast Nigeria were numbered. “We will hit them from the air and from all sides on the ground,” said the officer.
He added that the army had re-absorbed all the soldiers who deserted a few weeks ago into Cameroon. “We decided that the best thing to do was not to punish the soldiers, but to train them more.” He revealed that many of the soldiers had been sent to undergo short training courses at a military facility in Minna, the capital of Niger State.
In addition, all soldiers stationed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, have received orders to return to their barracks by or before Wednesday this week.
The military’s renewed confidence has also touched civilians in the terror-ravaged northeast. Our correspondent said numerous people who had earlier fled from Mubi in Adamawa State were seen returning to the town yesterday. Among those returning were students who, just a week ago, had left Mubi in droves as Boko Haram fighters seized Michika and seemed determined to push towards Mubi. Some soldiers in Mubi had also briefly fled the city, but returned the next day.
Our correspondent saw five brand new Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) heading to Vimtrin, the hometown of Air Marshal Alex Badeh, Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff.
A security source said that Boko Haram militants had withdrawn from the town of Kawuri and back in Bama as word came to the insurgents that Nigerian troops would begin its massive onslaught soon.