Theatre Commander of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) is Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar said this today in Maiduguri when he was brieifing journalist regarding the recent spate of attacks, measures by the military and messages to the well - meaning Nigerians.
Major General Abubakar affirmed that the military is fully resolved and resourced to bring the battle to a favourable conclusion.
He said troops are highly motivated and their resilience is not dampened. Several welfare initiatives have been instituted by the military hierarchy which have boosted the morale of troops. This is the level of seriousness that the government attaches to this conflict and in time we will completely defeat this terrorism.
He said the terrorists have been degraded and there is little doubt that normalcy has greatly returned to the North East region, compared to where it was 5 to ten years ago.
In his word, the Theatre Commander "In war, you have several campaigns which are series of coordinated operations aimed at achieving strategic objectives. So you will win some and lose some.
"What is most important is the statistics of what you win against what you lose. In the last one week alone, over 20 terrorists have been neutralised and arms and ammunition recovered, even as we continue to conduct operations on multiple fronts as we speak.
"For now, most citizens have returned to their communities, and socioeconomic activities have returned. Malam Fatori and Kukawa are recent success stories where almost 20,000 IDPs have returned to their ancestral homes.
However, what is is happening in Nigeria is not unconnected to the situation in the greater Sahel region, where Barracks in neighbouring countries are being ransacked and weapons carted away. These weapons find their way down into Nigeria, due to our large and porous borders, thereby reenergising the fight.
"Two years ago, we were ready to say that the conflict was over, but the deterioration in security among Sahel States has also affected us. In spite of this progress, the terrorists have also adapted. This is possible due to the relative ease with which they can access technology.
"For instance, since November of last year, we noticed the introduction of the use of armed drones to carry out attacks. Like you would find in Israel or Ukraine, these drones are difficult to detect by conventional radar detection.
"In the last 2 months, we have been re-strategizing and reorganising. The COAS was here just a week ago and several changes have been made in theatre. I am one of such changes, having just taken over command 3 weeks ago.
"Additional platforms and personnel are being inducted into the theatre. What the terrorists have resorted to doing is carrying out multi pronged attacks on several isolated and vulnerable deployments, and using it as propaganda which is why we are also reviewing our deployments.
"Yesterday alone, there were attacks in Rann, Dikwa and Gajiram. All these attacks were defeated apart from Rann where they succeeded in penetrating to an extent, leading to the loss of 4 personnel. However, let me reassure you that the overall resolve of the Nigerian military is that we will completely defeat this terrorism and restore peace to the region once and for all, in the shortest possible time. We just need the support of the nation.
"It is important for the Nigerian populace to understand the nature of the conflict and the space within which we have to operate. For instance, this entire Theatre of Operation is over 150,000 sq km2. That is larger than several countries put together, but let us even take the Timbuktu Triangle, which is one of the epicentres of this conflict. It is over 11,000 sq km2 in size, which is larger than Rivers and Osun States.
"Internationally, this is larger than Jamaica, Kosovo and the Republic of the Gambia. Therefore, as a military we need to be methodical and have phased operations.
"In asymmetric warfare Sun Tsu famously said, you have to separate the water from the fish. Security is therefore a collective responsibility and not just for the men in uniform. Nigerians must continue to assist the military in fishing out the bad elements.
Last week 13,000 litres of PMS were intercepted by our personnel, headed for the terrorists’ enclave in the middle of the night.ÿ This amount can keep the terrorists operational for the next 1 year. Therefore, it is expedient that the entire community joins in assisting the military to fight the terrorists.