Defence minister summons service chiefs

Christopher Musa, the minister of defence, has summoned all service chiefs to a meeting following the resurgence of insurgency in the North-east where more than three military bases have been overrun by insurgents in less than a week.

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Mr Musa, according to Daily Trust, invited the service chiefs to his office on Wednesday. The minister and the military chiefs spoke about reviewing strategies to improve the war on terror.

Mr Musa, a retired army general and former chief of defence staff, acknowledged the killings of military operatives, but noted that the casualties were higher on the terrorists’ side.

Further details of the meeting have not been made public as of the time of filing this report.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Islamic Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists, on Monday, invaded two military bases in Goniri and Kukawa, Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria, killing a commanding officer, Umar Farouq.

Mr Farouq was killed alongside some soldiers.

The terrorists also destroyed military operational vehicles. However, many of them were killed in the attack on the military base in Kukawa. The attack on Goniri military base was also repelled by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

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Four days before the attacks, ISWAP invaded four military camps in Mainok, Jakana, Marte and Konduga, all in Borno State, killing a senior officer and some soldiers. In a statement last week, the Nigerian Army said it repelled all the attacks and eliminated many terrorists.

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PREMIUM TIMES understands that the renewed attacks on military bases is part of the “Camp Holocaust”, a campaign launched by ISWAP early last year, specifically targeting military formations and personnel.

According to a report by Malik Samuel, a researcher with Good Governance Africa (GGA), about 16 military bases were attacked as part of the campaign last year.

Also, the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) estimates that about 500 people were killed in not less than 200 attacks staged under the deadly campaign.

The horror campaign seems to have taken a sharp turn, with the insurgents deploying sophisticated weapons including armed drones. In the attack on Mainok, Jakana, Marte and Konduga, the military said the terrorists used armed drones.

Civilians were also targeted in the previous week. This newspaper reported the deadly attack on Ngoshe, where many people were killed and over 100 were abducted including women and children.