By Olayemi Esan
No stone will be left unturned until the last remnants of the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP) and elements of the Boko Haram groups are rooted out of the Lake Chad Basin, Force Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Maj. Gen. Abdul Khalifa Ibrahim has assured.
The assurance is contained in a statement signed by MNJTF’s Chief of Military Public Information, Col. Mohammed Dole on the activities of the Force from 6th to 19th August, 2021 following familiarization visits to formations under his watch.
Recall that there was leadership in the MNJTF in which Maj. Gen. Ibrahim took over from Maj. Gen. JJ Ogunlade as the Force Commander on 6 Aug 21.
The Commander had earlier the Force’s Sector 3 with headquarters in Monguno, and continued Wed 18 and Thursday 19 Aug 21 respectively to Sector 1 HQ in Moura, Cameroon and Sector 2 HQ, in Bagasola Chad where he was accompanied by Principal Staff Officers drawn from all the participating countries.
Maj. Gen. Ibrahim expressed renewed commitment to take the fight to the enemies as a means to hasten the end of this conflict. He praised the officers and men for their courage, resilience and service which has decimated and degraded the insurgents and has reduced their potency.
He paid tribute to the fallen heroes of this struggle and prayed for their repose and then called for renewed vigour, better synergy, better intelligence sharing, focused leadership and coordination to enable the MNJTF achieve its mandate fully.
The Force Commander said he had listened keenly to the challenges enumerated by the Commanders and assured that they would be carefully looked into.
He described the spate of recent insurgents’ surrender in the MNJF AOR and beyond as a welcome development, saying the Force would continue to encourage them to surrender and lay down with their weapons.
“He however warned against complacency and urged the troops to remain on high alert and to be very cautious when dealing with the surrendered insurgents adding that international laws of armed conflict must be taken with by troops of the MNJTF at all times.
He informed them that the HQ MNJTF were carefully studying the development to enable them give direction on it.
“While in sector 1 Mora (Cameroon), the FC, accompanied by the Sector Commander paid courtesy visit to the Senior District/Division Officer (SDO) of Mayo-Sava and Prefecture of Mora, Mr Roger Saffo in his office. The SDO expressed appreciation for the visit and urged the FC to restrategise to defeat the terrorists, as now the BHT/ISWAP insurgents are changing their tactics to survive. He pledged continued cooperation and support to the military and security agencies, through collaboration.
Highlights of the event were the visit to the wounded in action troops at the Sector 1 medical centre in Mora and hand over of the water treatment machine to the Commander. “ Dole added.
In a related development, the Commander OP Turus (West Africa) Col Rory Shannon of the British Army paid a courtesy visit to the FC MNJTF, Maj Gen AK Ibrahim at the HQ MNJTF Ndjamena Chad on 17 Aug 21. Discussions bordered on areas of training and capacity building among others.
He visited the Cell for Coordination and Liaisons (CCL) and the Comd Op BARKHANE , Maj Gen Laurent Michon at their base in Ndjamena,Chad .Discussions were on information sharing, capacity building and other forms of training all aimed at restoring normalcy in the operational environment.
The FC said he will continue to partner and engage all parties till the MNJTF achieves its mission. These were equally hitch free and cordial.
The reorganised Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) was operationalised in mid-2015 by countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) comprising of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. Benin Republic also took part in the deliberations and subsequent deployment.
Its mandate includes creating a safe and secure environment in the Lake Chad Basin areas affected by the activities of Boko Haram, facilitate implementation of the stabilization programme by the LCBC including return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees and facilitation of humanitarian operations/assistance within its areas of operations.