by Isi Esene

Following the enactment of an emergency situation in three states in Nigeria including Yobe, Adamawa and Borno by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, the military has undertaken a massive deploymentof troops to the region today.

Reports say the military has also deployed fighter jets to the affected areas in a bid to wrest the restive northeast from Islamic militant insurgents, Boko Haram.

In the declaration of emergency broadcast live to citizens, the president acknowledged the growing influence of insurgent elements in Borno and its environs.

“Nigerian Armed Forces… have commenced operations to rid the nation’s border territories of terrorist bases,” a military statement said.

“The operations which will involve massive deployment of men and resources, is aimed at asserting the nation’s territorial integrity,” it added.

The Vanguard Newspapers reports thus:

Kyari Mohammed, a political science professor at Modibbo Adama University of Science and Technology in Adamawa state, told AFP that military presence in northern Borno had previously been limited, enabling Boko Haram to take control in certain areas.

But, he warned, the expanded military operations set to follow the emergency decree may not solve the problem.

“The deployment will only spread the insurgency instead of containing it,” he said.

Nigeria’s military has been accused of massive rights abuses in campaigns against Boko Haram, with Human Rights Watch saying troops may be guilty of crimes against humanity.

For Mohammed, the emergency decree could pose further problems for civilians in the northeast when the widened military operation takes off.

“Soldiers have been given a blank cheque by the president,” he said, warning of “more rights abuses”.

The Boko Haram conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security forces.