The horrific killing of about 40 farmers and fishermen at a settlement in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram insurgents is disturbing. Also worrying was the attack on the military base in Damboa local government which led to the death of about six soldiers and scores of vigilantes. Many have rightly expressed outrage about the killings, including the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall who said that the perpetrators must be identified and brought to account. ?This recent attack is yet another grim reminder of the profound dangers that civilians in conflict-affected parts of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states continue to face in their struggle to survive,? he said.

These incidents clearly indicate that pressure from the military has made the insurgents to shift tactics to what is now a hit-and-run tactics. But it is also obvious that they still have active guerrilla cells and staging posts in the Northeast from where they launch these attacks. While the authorities admit that the terrorists have returned fully to the asymmetrical warfare that was once their hallmark, the resurgence of violence is stoking unease in many communities, and indeed hampering the return of some of the millions of internally displaced persons living in the poorest of conditions in camps.

For sure, military authorities have whittled down the striking powers of the insurgent groups responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Nigerians. The military has also recaptured much of the territory Boko Haram once controlled, and the insurgents no longer operate as freely as they used to. But in as much as we appreciate the efforts to contain the terrorists, Nigerians are also concerned about their increasing capacity to inflict harm on the people. In these circumstances, the military must reappraise its strategies and rise to the occasion as we can no longer continue to lose innocent lives and valuable property to these senseless terrorist activities.

Aside from attributing recent attacks to the influx of foreign fighters from the Sahel who serve as reinforcements for the terrorists, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ has also alleged that they are aided by local informants. ?In spite of the situation, troops are profoundly conscious of their role and responsibility in ending insurgency and terrorism in the nation, though we might record occasional tactical setbacks,? Director of Defence Media Operation, Edward Buba, said while assuring Nigerians of military preparedness to tackle the challenge. ?Our strategic objective remains unhindered and it is to break the terrorist will to fight.?

With reports of Influx of terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda from neighbouring countries, Boko Haram insurgents appear to be regaining capacity for regular combat as accounts of both the military and civil authorities reveal. Indeed, the series of brazen attacks and gruesome killings by the militant group in recent weeks have shown that the insurgents are still very much in business. In the past, this newspaper had highlighted the need for the federal government to beef up its intelligence gathering architecture and restructure it to meet the demands of the asymmetric warfare that the country has on its hands.

Even more frightening is that in parts of the Northeast where Boko Haram and ISWAP operate, the arsenals in the hands of these lawless groups range from AK 47 to machine guns, rocket propelled grenades to rockets and rocket launchers. Sources of these dangerous weapons range from trafficking across porous land borders to leakages in lax import procedures that have encouraged black market arms traffickers. Yet, as we have repeatedly pointed out, it was such easy access to these weapons by some unscrupulous elements that resulted in total breakdown of law and order in some of the failed states in Africa of which Somalia is a prime example.

Thus, beyond whatever measures the military may put in place to battle the insurgents, there must also be concrete actions to deal with the challenge of arms proliferation, particularly within the Lake Chad Basin area. (THISDAY Editorial)

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