Fallen soldiers honoured, buried, but ….

The surge in attacks on soldiers in recent times was not only alarming, but condemnable. This leaves a bitter taste and a show of lack of in-depth understanding of capacity of Boko Haram fighters and fighters of the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP.

Not just soldiers are killed by those ragtag group, but generals, brigade commanders and senior military personnel. Each time a top military general is killed, terrorists gave themselves applause. If this continue, it could demoralize Nigerian military in the fight against terrorism.

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We must have understood now that terrorism is actively on the rise in Nigeria. The approach to tackling the menace must be recalibrated, equipment must be upgraded. Advanced technology must be used. Lessons must be learned from other nations that have passed through similar challenges. Thorough training and retraining must be embarked upon for the security agents. Environmental topography must be well understood by the operatives.

For too long, terrorism has festered and a decisive action must be taken by government to end all forms of terrorism and other related crimes. Apart from human toll on citizens, humongous financial resources have been spent on tackling the menace. The reality is the more the budget, the less result we see. Something is fundamentally wrong with the approach to tackling terrorism year in, year out.

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We cannot feign ignorance of the fact that the Nigerian military is not getting the needed and full support of the citizens in the terrorism infested areas. Come to think of it, information is usually passed to terrorists on the movement of soldiers leading to the successful ambush of the troops. The ‘ambush trend’ could also be in-house of the troops themselves. Military authority must look inwards to get rid of ‘bad eggs’.

Last week, Brigadier General Oseni Braimah was killed in Benisheikh in Kaga Local Government Council of Borno State alongside other scores of soldiers.

We remember Brigadier General Musa Uba was killed by ISWAP insurgents after he was captured in November of 2025
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Abu Ali was killed alongside others Mallam Fatori northern Borno on 7th November, 2016 and host of others who were not mentioned.

Very reprehensible is the reality that terrorists have mastered the art and science of attacking military generals and brigade commanders, military formations and military bases. The precision of attack and the huge casualties depicted of a ‘compromised system’.

If the tide of unabated killing of soldiers continue, Nigeria would soon begone as terrorism actively exists in the 19 northern states including the Federal Capital Territory.

May the soul of the patriotic soldiers killed rest in peace.

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