The mysterious white man captured by
Nigerian soldiers during last week’s storming of Boko Haram’s headquarters in
the Sambisa Forest is a Frenchman and he specializes in repairing and unlocking
armoured personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment, Daily Trust learnt
from authoritative military sources yesterday.
The white man’s identity is being
concealed by the Federal Government and military authorities for diplomatic
reasons, the sources also said.
Defence Headquarters has been silent
on the development since the news broke last Friday, shortly after President
Muhammadu Buhari announced that Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the
Sambisa forest, Borno State had been overrun by troops. Soldiers who took part
in the operation told our correspondent yesterday that a white man was actually
arrested in the Sambisa forest and that he has been providing “credible
information” to military authorities.
A source said, “He was
arrested along the Bama axis of the Sambisa forest and agreed to give vital
information provided he would be spared. I learnt that he is from France but
authorities do not want to make his real identity known for diplomatic
reasons…They don’t want to jeopardize the success recorded.” Although
some sources only said the captured white man is “from Western Europe,” Daily
Trust learnt that he is actually a Frenchman. All Nigeria’s neighbours in the
North East, namely Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad are French speaking.
The French embassy in Nigeria did
not respond to email and text message sent to it for comment yesterday.
How top officers led Sambisa
offensive
The one month long military
offensive that led to the capture of Sambisa Forest last Thursday was led by
“the best hands” in the Nigerian Army and Air Force, sources close to the
operation told Daily Trust yesterday. Before the renewed offensive to reclaim
the dreaded forest where Boko Haram fighters held sway since 2013, officers
between the ranks of Lieutenants, Captains and Majors normally led operations,
sources said. This time around, more senior officers led the operation on all
fronts during the final onslaught. It was gathered that the officers, besides
various trainings they obtained at home, have been trained abroad and had
participated in serious military operations.
The 60,000 square kilometres (23,000
sq mi) vast Sambisa Forest had been the nightmare of the Nigerian security
forces, including their foreign allies, who provided various security reports
over the years. It was gathered that some of the fighting troops were mobilized
with light rocket propelled grenades [RPGs], weapons they did not use
previously. The light RPGs, according to one of our sources, could be
carried on by soldiers on their shoulders for long distances because of their
light weight and were used against far flung targets.
“With the exception of one major of
the Nigerian Army, all the commanding officers that led the 4,200 troops into
the Sambisa Forest are of the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel,” a soldier who participated in the operation said. He said
“the Bama axis was led by a Colonel who viciously decimated many Boko Haram
fighters. Together with his troops, he captured Alafa 1, 11 and 111 in the
Sambisa Forest and freed over 1,000 people. He also captured nearly 500
suspects, mostly men who are being interrogated for having links with the Boko
Haram.”
According to him, “some of
the suspects are claiming that they were forcefully conscripted into the
violent group while others have admitted that they belong to the group.” Another
source said the Konduga/Aulari axis of the Sambisa Forest was captured by a
daring army Major.
“This Major is one of the heroes in
the Nigerian Army. He was very close to the late Lieutenant Colonel Abu Ali of
blessed memory. He knows the Sambisa Forest very well and was therefore
directed to approach the forest through the infamous Gate One,” the source said. He added, “The Ngurosoye axis
of the Sambisa Forest was led by a Lieutenant Colonel who is also a fearless
and versatile officer. His 151 Battalion is known as Blocking Force. His troops
recovered many AK47 rifles of fleeing Boko Haram insurgents and they also freed
many women and children.”
The real operation
Sources said during the planning to
re-take Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Tukur Buratai
frequented Maiduguri almost on daily basis. “Sometimes he passed the
night there (in Maiduguri) and sometimes he went back to Abuja. He personally
commanded the general operation,” an officer who craved for anonymity
said. He said radar with monitors was mounted at the 7 Division of the Nigerian
Army and everything, including troop movement; logistics, ground operation and
aerial reconnaissance both day and night were closely monitored with
precision.
He said, “The close
monitoring from Maiduguri helped a great deal in reducing mistakes. This gave
the troops the confidence to relentlessly march on during operations. The fact
that the mine detectors deployed to the Sambisa forest also demobilized all the
bombs planted by the insurgents gave our troops added impetus. The mine
detectors normally detonated most of the IEDs with ease and also cleared the
terrain for armoured vehicles to move freely.”
The source that added some Boko
Haram commanders and foot soldiers who were arrested long ago and
“de-radicalized” were also imbedded in the operation. “The repentant
insurgents, some members of the civilian JTF and local vigilantes know the
Sambisa Forest very well, far better than the maps we used in the operation and
therefore, they assisted greatly in helping us to locate hideouts. Also,
sophisticated fighter jets and drones that have capacity to monitor things as
far as away as 600 meters were deployed to the Sambisa forest and worked day
and night,” he said.
The fall of ‘Camp Zero’
A military officer told our
correspondent that this was not the first time attempt made to capture “Camp
Zero” in Sambisa Forest where the factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar
Shekau used as his hide out on different occasions. “This is the second time
Camp Zero is taken. The first was during the JTF (Joint Task Force) in June
2013 before it (JTF) was disbanded and the area was lost completely,” the
officer said.
He said despite the success
recorded, there is worry among the military high command because some of the
things expected to be recovered at the building were not found. “It is likely
they (Boko Haram) are somewhere because they moved away with their equipment
and prized possessions, including the Chibok girls in possession of Shekau
group,” he said.
He said there were other dreaded
cells that have been deserted by the Boko Haram terrorists, such as the ones in
Kareto and Gudumbali at the height of offensive last year and another one in
Kukawa which was reclaimed this year. It was learnt that while some of the
Chibok girls and other captives are with the Shekau camp, many of them are with
the Mamman Nur faction, led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, son of the group’s late
Mohammed Yusuf. They are suspected to be held in cells in northern Borno State.
“Camp Zero has for a long time been
an objective for our troops but it is not the end of Sambisa in the true sense
of the crisis. Boko Haram terrorists have been trained in the art of war, so it
is likely they moved away for tactical reasons,” he said. The source said the
COAS, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole as well as the GOCs of the
army’s 3, 7 and 8 Divisions and other key Army Headquarters officers held a
marathon meeting on December 24 and continued meeting yesterday on the
operations in the North East. “They had a break on the 25th because of
Christmas and they went to open the roads from Maiduguri to Damasak and to
Baga. Their main concern in the meeting is the disappearance of Boko Haram
leaders with their equipment and lack of trace of the Chibok girls,” the officer said.
Sources said beside the equipment
found there, Boko Haram fighters had raided many workshops and laboratories in
schools around the Sambisa Forest in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and had
fabricated fighting equipment and chemicals with the facilities they carted
away.
There is controversy as to how Camp
Zero actually looked like. While some soldiers that participated in the
operation said it has two underground buildings and tunnels as well as hardware
and equipment for the training of the disbanded National Guards, some officers
told our correspondent that the place was actually inherited from the Sambisa
Game Reserve.
“The National Guard were to train
there but were never there. A team went to inspect the place in the 80s but the
movement and training did not hold. The solid structure there belonged to the
forest management authority,” he
said.
DAILY TRUST
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