ISWAP

By Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim

The invasion of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is indeed embarrassing and extremely unsettling. But what is more unsettling is the fact that this high-level security breach is said to be orchestrated by “bandits”. While I had never underestimated these bandits’ lethality and offensive capacity, I still find it hard to believe they planned this attack. 

And here is why: 

Although most of us are unaware of the very nuanced categorisation of bandit groups operating in Northwest and Northcentral Nigeria, still, whenever we hear the word “bandit”, our minds go to the Fulani militias that have been meting out mayhem on innocent civilians. 

Channels TV reported that “The bandits who came in a vehicle were said to have passed through the security gate into the academy, disguised in military uniforms, after which they proceeded to the officers’ quarters.”

And this is where the question mark is. 

A Fulani person is the most recognisable of all the ethnic groups in Nigeria by his physique, phenotype and accent. And with the high level of stereotypes and profiling of members of this ethnic group as even innocent Fulanis on the streets get harassed, it makes it hard to believe that a vehicle full of bandits (of Fulani extraction) passed through the gates of NDA without being recognised and raising the suspicion of the guards. The press statement released by the academy also described the invaders as “Unknown Gunmen” instead of “Bandits”. 

However, this is not only the reason that informs my suspicion. 

The Nigerian terrorism network has been very volatile lately owing to the recent escalation of the rift between the two major terrorist organizations in Nigeria —the late Shekau-led Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Al-Barnawi-led Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) — who were initially a single entity until they split in 2016 due to certain ideological differences and have been fighting each other since then. This rift, escalation of which has been attributed to the Nigerian Armed Forces Operation Hadin Kai spearheaded by the late Chief of Military Defense Brig. Gen Abdulrahman Kuliya was what consumed Abubakar Shekau in May 2021 and rendered his faction rather defenceless. 

Following this incidence, it was reported that more than a thousand JAS fighters have surrendered to the Nigerian Army – a gesture most people believe to be a positive sign and a product of enhanced military offensives against the terror groups. 

However, that is hardly the case, for, after Shekau’s death, ISWAP received some JAS commanders and fighters that pledged allegiance to their leader Al-Barnawi and then issued an ultimatum to those who refused while assuring them of continuous attacks. This is actually what motivates them to surrender to the Nigerian Army to leverage on the Nigerian Government’s amnesty program, the Operation Safe Corridor, and escape ISWAP’s wrath. But even before this incidence, defection from JAS to ISWAP was common among commanders and fighters, as in the case of Adamu Bitri in 2019. 

In December 2020, I explained in an article titled “Insecurity in North-West: Armed Banditry or Boko Haram Expansionism” the operational dynamics of all the three terrorist groups — JAS, ISWAP and Ansaru — in the Northwest and the possibility of them executing expansionist agenda in North-West Nigeria through infiltration, training, assimilation and arms supply. Before the fall of Shekau, reports suggested that the JAS and Ansaru groups had closer ties with bandit gangs in North-West. Adamu Bitri, for example, while he was with JAS, was instrumental in forging an alliance between JAS and bandit groups. He later moved to ISWAP before he died. It is believed that he might have shifted the allegiance of some of the bandit gangs he was in contact with to ISWAP. 

With Shekau’s death and the subsequent carpet-crossing of his commanders (some of whom are the keepers of the link between JAS and the bandit gangs in the North West just as Adamu Bitri) to the ISWAP side, there is a high possibility that bandits who were initially aligned to JAS are now under ISWAP’s control. Also, some JAS fighters who refused to surrender to both ISWAP and the Nigerian Army might consider joining bandit gangs in the northwest, just as it was the case for some fighters who fled ISWAP to join bandit groups before this recent incident. 

With the possible control ISWAP might have gotten over a greater number of bandit groups in the North-West due to recent events, the NDA invasion makes me wonder if it is just ISWAP’s way of signalling their newest expansionist achievement and presence in the North-West by staging such an operation in usual “bandit” territory perhaps with the help of the bandits, for the attack was done in usual ISWAP style of attacking military bases. And whether it is indeed purely a “bandit” affair or ISWAP’s or both, it signals a failure of our government, a serious increase in security vulnerability in the country and calls for renewed strategic action against bandits, the broader terrorism network in Nigeria and their expansionist tendencies. 

Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim is a political and public affairs analyst. He writes from Zaria and can be reached through haleemabdul1999@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The ISWAP terror group in the northeastern part of Nigeria has suffered a heavy casualty on Wednesday as at least 43 of its members were killed in a gun duel with troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

Unfortunately, a military official said that seven soldiers also lost their lives during the battle.

Sources in the know of the incident stated that the troops came under a heavy attack by members of the terror group in Diffa province of Niger Republic.

A spokesman of the joint task force, Colonel Mohammed Dole, praised the soldiers for preventing the insurgents from attacking them.

The colonel, in a statement, said, “Troops of the Sector deployed in Baroua came under heavy attack by suspected BHT/ISWAP criminals in the small hours of Wednesday 25 Aug. 2021.”

“At the end of the encounter, a total of Forty-Three (43) dead bodies of BHT/ISWAP insurgents were scattered around the engagement areas.”

Colonel Dole also disclosed that an unnamed leader of the terrorists was captured alive. 

He added that a “large cache of arms, ammunitions were recovered, and four enemy gun trucks were destroyed.”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

In what would be tagged as “tremendous success” in the fight against insurgency in the northeastern part of Nigeria, members of the two terrorist groups operating in the region, Boko Haram and ISWAP, have engaged in a deadly battle, which left many dead.

The incident occurred in northern Abadam, Borno State, last weekend (Sunday, August 22, 2021), when some members of Boko Haram, who attempted to surrender, came under a heavy attack by irate members of the ISWAP in the Dumbawa community.

Angered by the decision of Boko Haram members to surrender to Nigerian troops, the leadership of the ISWAP “placed a death sentence on any fleeing member in the Lake Chad axis,” an intelligence source in the know of incident disclosed.

PRNigeria quoted the source as saying, “The deadly attack was coordinated by one Abba-Kaka, a self-acclaimed ISWAP Governor of Tumbumma, Commanding Marte, Abadam, Kukawa and Magumeri, leading to a heavy gun battle that lasted for hours which resulted in the killing of over 25 terrorists including three Commanders while many other militants, who ran in different directions with their families were left with bullets wounds.”

According to PRNigeria, the rift between the two groups has deteriorated following the execution of Boko Haram members by ISWAP members and the refusal of the latter to include the former in the appointment of some key positions.

Another source was also quoted as stating, “Some high ranking Commanders bearing the titles of ‘Amir’ and ‘Khaid’ (Chiefs) at under the Shekau’s Caliphate in Sambisa were reduced to ordinary militants fighters after paying allegiance to the ISWAP leadership.

“Some JAS Commanders and their loyalists were already contemplating pitching their tents against the ISWAP by joining forces with the Bakura and Krimima Led-JAS Factions that have been battling the ISWAP around the axes of Lelewa, Duwa, Wallal and Hauwa Bulumwa villages in the Niger Republic.”

Recall that in the past weeks, scores of members of Boko Haram have laid down their arms and surrendered to Nigerian troops.

By Muhammad Sabiu

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday meet with the security service chiefs.

Femi Adesina, a presidential spokesperson, announced the meeting today in a statement via his Facebook account.

According to Mr Adesina, the meeting, which will be held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, will focus on the recent security achievements across the country.

He said, “The security forces have in the past few weeks taken the battle more robustly to insurgents, bandits, and all other criminals troubling the country, and they are now surrendering in droves.

“The President will be brought up to speed on developments at the Thursday meeting, while plans to bring a decisive end to the challenges will be formulated.”

Recall that recently Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters in their hundreds have surrendered to the Nigerian troops in the northeastern part of the country, thereby marking a tremendous development in the fight against insecurity in Nigeria.

This is coming a few days after the president returned from the United Kingdom, where he spent 18 days during which he attended an education summit and had some check-ups.