Boko Haram squeezed as Nigeria offensive gathers pace

Nigerian government troops have forced Boko Haram extremists out of all but three local government areas in the north eastern state of Borno after launching a major counter offensive alongside regional allies last month.

The campaign has been bolstered by the supply of new equipment including minesweepers and armoured personnel carriers, according to government spokesman Mike Omerri, who is in London this week, FT reports.

Troops from neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger had prevented the insurgents from slipping back across borders and they had now been forced into a more confined area, he said. This includes the town of Gwoza, near the border with Cameroon.

The second largest town captured by Boko Haram last September, Bama, was retaken by Nigerian forces on Monday, according to army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade. The insurgents have already been cleared out of the two other worst-affected states, Adamawa and Yobe, according to army officials.

Until recently, Boko Haram had control of around 20 of 27 local government areas in the state of Borno, and were threatening the regional capital Maiduguri. “We have started the final onslaught,” Omerri said. “This is the road to the finish and we are on it already.”

He described as “mischievous,” reports that South African and eastern European mercenaries have been doing the heavy lifting, with Nigerian soldiers following in their wake.

Diplomatic and security sources say that mercenaries from South Africa and eastern Europe have been flying newly acquired combat helicopters and have played an active role in recent fighting. Nigerian military and government officials admit only to there being foreign “technicians” in the country, helping to train troops in the use of new equipment.

“The acquisition of this hardware came with a training component,” Omerri said.

The offensive was launched last month after the electoral commission delayed presidential polls by six weeks to March 28 to allow the army to retake captured territory, and as neighbouring countries prepared to contribute troops to a regional counter-insurgency force.

The escalating violence and shambolic performance of the army had become a major liability for incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, as he prepared to contest elections against a resurgent opposition, led by former military ruler, MuhammaduBuhari.

Jonathan’s at times cackhanded response to the insurgency was brought into relief most sharply last April, when Boko Haram extremists kidnapped 276 school girls from the remote town of Chibok.

Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah, the chief of army staff, said on Tuesday that the army had found no sign of the abducted girls so far in recaptured territory. “In all the liberated areas we have, we have also made enquiries . . . And those we have come in contact with have not made any comments suggesting that Chibok girls were there and taken away,” he said.

This is the road to the finish and we are on it already.

Under pressure from the offensive, AbubakarShekau, Boko Haram’s leader, pledged allegiance earlier this month to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed ‘caliph’ and leader of the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant, known as Isis, prompting concerns about the internationalisation of the conflict in Nigeria.

MrOmerri said intelligence agencies already had growing evidence of collaboration between the groups. Mr Al-Baghdadi’s acceptance of Shekau’s pledge formalises the alliance. But he argued this had little bearing on the ongoing fighting.

“The pledge of allegiance, and acceptance [by Isis] has no direct impact on the fight against Boko Haram,” he said.