Tempest Of The Battlefield : The War On Terror,  A Model Worthy Of Commendation.  

By OLUFEMI LAWSON AKINDELE

The winning of the Tempestuous Battle of wits against Terror; not an easy task but today, Nigeria is a much safer place — Thanks to our Gallant Troops and their commanders..

Have you ever thought that the state of our nation's security as it presently is, could revert to its former place, pre-boko Haram days..

When the series of strange incidents of terror made the headlines in the 9/11 incident in America in 2001, did the world know that the war on terror will still be waging in the year 2018!??

The question on the lips of most people around the world since modern terror struck in 2001, is the possibility of an apocalypse, as every continent has become embroiled in the midst of a global scale chaos that Terror has brought... And not even our dear country, Nigeria has been spared from the reality of the global chaos that Terrorism has brought.

Terrorism has turned the flora and the fauna of the vast bountiful capacity, ability of our Dear country into something that has never been seen before.. Boko Haram has so decimated our resources, killing thousands of people, burning hundreds of villages since its advent in 2009. The high points were however from the year 2011 to 2015.

Coincidentally, since 2015 when a new government came to be and a new set of Military Chiefs came to be, the all-dominating Boko Haram Terrorists, have been gradually and steadily decimated that the once most dreaded terrorist group in the world, is no more the threat and terror to Nigeria and to the world.

From misery, to crisis, the new administration of President Buhari and the new Military Chiefs, needed to device a means of saving Nigeria, especially the North East, by racing to arresting quickly the spread of terror that had reached the Nation's capital already..

Since the new Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Yusufu Buratai took over in 2015, the Nigerian Army has recaptured vast swathes of territory that had come under the control of Boko Haram in the North-East of the country, for upward of 2 to 3 years before then.

Many towns and villages that had been hitherto controlled by Boko Haram, have been regained as the Military intensified its operations in the North East.

However, in spite of these spate of victories, the Theatres of War appear to have shifted to the type that mocks victory. The attritional self-destructive venture of Amnesty International, rather than help the fight against terror, undermines and destructively reports the Nigerian Military efforts in negative terms..

Great efforts and innovation, the type never before seen let alone experienced have happened in Nigeria in the last 3 and a half years. The Nigerian Army under General Buratai aside winning the war against terrorism has also supported our local industries in line with the vision of the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration, over a hundred locally manufactured military vehicles have been procured from Innoson motors, The indigenous automobile manufacturing company, and deployed to the war on terror. Thousands of abducted Nigerians by the Boko Haram terrorist freed.

The giant strides of the Nigerian Army, rather than draw favorable reports, sadly some individuals and institutions would rather attack and ceaselessly too.

Terror does not disappear as would a conventional war.

Compared to other places where Terror also has occurred, the Nigerian Army, especially since 2015 has done exceptionally well.

The present Army Chief has through his various innovations, made the Nigerian Army, a model for all to see.

Who would have thought that in the heart of the North East, where Boko Haram has pitched their tent and declared the capital of their Fundamentalist State, the Army could today have established the Nigerian Army University, in Biu town....

Biu town, a few years back was in the hands of the Terrorists.

Despite the persistence of such politically motivated attacks, from certain individuals with their foreign collaborators like the Amnesty International, the war on terror has gradually wound down to nothing but occasional bursts of desperate attacks by the terrorists to scout for food and sustenance...like the reports of Boko Haram terrorist stealing some cows or in highway robberies. Never again the kind of attacks that fetched them the tag of the world's deadliest terrorists..!

Lt General Tukur Yusufu Buratai must be praised for been able to provide the right kind of leadership for the Nigerian Army at these times..

The hitherto antagonistic organizations that vigorously sought to have the army indicted on human rights abuses have lately come to commend the army.

Amnesty International has indeed commended the Nigerian government over the trial of suspected Boko Haram terrorists, describing the ongoing trial as "good progress for the justice sector".

Now, this is a positive development from the way of engagement of the past where negative reports by same Amnesty International aimed at discrediting the efforts of the army troops in the Northeast...

This commendation from Amnesty International, contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, by Osai Ojigho, Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, is a welcome development. One hopes Amnesty International will sustain this good reason and will not allow itself to be used to undermine our nation's security policies by some unpatriotic agent provocateurs.

Mention also must be made of some other reports, calculated to dampen the spirit of the troops at the theatres of operation and to demean the successes recorded so far in the war against terrorism.

More worrisome it is, when such ill-informed reports are coming from supposedly credible newsstands, who are expected to partner with the military in wiping out terror, from our land but they are seemingly undermining the efforts of our military.

It becomes somewhat disturbing to truly comprehend the war within, to wonder at how a reporter is working, either singly, or in collaboration with others, who are not even anywhere near the field, but writing spuriously to make it look like the military is the one losing the war on terror.

We are then forced to ask, such reporters, are they speaking the mind of their sponsors....And if that is the case, who are these sponsors, who would rather the country's military is mocked and then lied at..!

What exactly, is their gain or motive??
It is a well known fact that terrorism thrives on publicity and propaganda.... Are such people aware of the evil they sow on the land, through their acts of commission and omission, they are in certain cahoots with the enemies against the state!

We salute the military, especially the Nigerian Army in the very professional manner in which the Army authorities have repeatedly conducted thorough and independent investigations into the alleged human rights violations and abuses marshaled against the conduct of the troops and we urge them to be steadfast with their determination to make the army a very formidable yet humane organization.

In closing, I join Nigerians to salute also, the prompt response of the Nigerian Army in unraveling the circumstances behind the disappearance of Major General Alkali, who was gruesomely murdered by some criminals in Plateau state. While one will expect due diligence by the Plateau State Government in prosecuting these heartless murderers at the same time, it's quite alarming and highly preposterous that some so called 120 legal practitioners are ready to defend these callous criminals and the question begging for answers is whose interest are these set of lawyers protecting. What the Nigerian Army and it's leadership needs now are our prayers support and accolades and not mudslinging or wicked propaganda.

Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi, a security analyst and a counter terrorist expert, is the Convener of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups against Terrorism in Nigeria contributed this article from Abuja.

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