ICC Note: The Nigerian government has made several claims about Boko Haram’s defeat, but the violence in the country shows otherwise. Towards the end of 2016 and throughout January 2017, the terrorists group has carried out several attacks in the country that have affected both Christian and non-Christian victims. Even though the government has made attempts to fight the radicals, they continue to pursue their jihad without any interruptions.
02/01/2017, Nigeria (Yahoo News) – Nigeria’s government and military have maintained the narrative for more than a year: Boko Haram, whose bloody insurgency has devastated the country’s northeast, is a spent force.
In December 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari said the Islamist militants were “technically defeated”. Twelve months later, he said troops had run them out of their final enclave.
Last month Major General Lucky Irabor, who heads the Nigerian counter-insurgency operation, told reporters the Islamic State group affiliate was “in disarray and… desperate”.
Throughout January, however, there were repeated attacks in Nigeria as well as in neighbouring Niger and Cameroon, raising questions about the extent of the claims of success.
In the latest incident, rebel gunmen on Tuesday ambushed police vehicles on the main road between the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, and the town of Damboa, killing an officer.
Last Saturday, as many as 24 people were feared dead when a convoy of civilian buses and trucks with a military escort was ambushed on the same road.
There have been hit-and-run attacks against “hard” military targets such as bases while suicide bombers have struck at “soft” civilian targets such as mosques and camps for the displaced.
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