Troops of 152 Battallion, Operation Hadin Kai, in Banki, Borno State, have arrested a repentant Boko Haram terrorist, Ba’ana Bdiya, also known as ‘Manci’ who once masterminded attacks against troops leading to the death of many soldiers.
This is occurring less than one week after two other ex-terrorists, Goni Farouq and Amir Zabu, (The executioner) who were top former Commanders of Boko Haram, were intercepted in a phone conversation, planing attacks against troops.
Ba’ana was among the thousands of Boko Haram terrorists, who laid down their arms and accepted back by the society after undergoing rehabilitation. But despite renouncing his membership of the terror group, he maintained close contact with his former colleagues.
Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region, disclosed that intelligence sources revealed that information provided by Ba’ana has helped the Boko Haram terrorists to successfully ambush troops during fighting patrols at Ngauri, which led to the killing of some soldiers in February, 2023.
On March 16, 2023, the suspect passed another information on the movement of troops, which enabled the terrorists to attack them with an IED that led to the killing of three soldiers and injuring of four others in the outskirt of Banki town.
The source lamented that the real obstacles standing between the troops and the total and final obliteration of Boko Hama terrorists was the nefarious activities of local network of informants.
There are concerns that the continued release of repentant terrorists into the society without proper deradicalisation could subvert the progress made so far in the war against insurgency.
There is a need to adopt a Multi-Sectorial approach rehabilitation of the former fighters. Beyond this, there is also a need for the Federal Government to come to the aid of the military and the Borno State Government in finding a procedure for handling the over 90,000 ex-terrorists.
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