The Nigerian Army on Wednesday said its troops had killed 20 Boko Haram insurgents in a clearance operation in the Lake Chad Basin.

• The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 8 Division, Timothy Antigha made the disclosure in a statement in Maiduguri.
• Antigha said the troops captured 17 insurgents, rescued 100 people, recovered vehicles and ammunition.
• He said the six soldiers who sustained injuries in the operation were referred to a military medical facility for treatment.
• He said the operations were conducted in the past two weeks in Islands in Lake Chad region to crush Boko Haram insurgents inhabiting the islands.

“In continuation of Operation DEEP PUNCH 2, designed to smoke out Boko Haram terrorists inhabiting remote Islands in Lake Chad basin lying within Nigerian territory, troops of 8 Division, Nigerian Army, on Operation LAFIYA DOLE, supported by soldiers of the Armed Forces Strike Group have inflicted heavy casualties on Boko Haram terrorists.

“The operation which commenced about two weeks ago preceded by coordinated air and artillery bombardments of islands and localities occupied by terrorists.

“The insurgents sneak into Magumeri, Kauram and other locations to loot property, attack security personnel and villagers.

“Islands and villages cleared so far include Arena Chiki, Chikun Gudu, Arena Waje, Sa’ada and Juwe.”

• Antigha disclosed that the rescued civilians included 100 elderly men, women and children. He added that preliminary investigation revealed that most of the rescued persons were held hostage and forced to work on the farms.

What do these killings indicate?

To start with, these regularly recorded killings, both of civilians, members of the Armed Forces and the insurgents go on to show that terrorism in the North East is far from being ‘technically defeated’ as the Army claims.

In recent times, there have been media reports of suicide bombings, and coordinated attacks from the terrorists.

It almost seems like the insurgents are still as strong as being able to cause a major crisis in the North East and indeed, other parts of the country.

The Armed Forces needs to come to terms with these realities and face the war head-on, instead of insisting on its ‘technical defeat’ of the terrorists.