From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The war againstinsurgency in Borno State and its neighboring areas has entered a new phasewith the military surging forth to reclaim the Sambisa forest area.
The area has been the stronghold of Boko Haram insurgents and their nefarious activities for several years.
In this resolve, the military recently rescued a total of 386 people from Sambisa forest area following a special operation code-namedOperation Desert Sanity conducted in the area.
The rescued personswere believed to have been held in captivity by the insurgents for over adecade.
During the operations,the military also evacuated armored tanks’ and weapons from the insurgentsformer operational centre. Military sources told Daily Sun that the tanks andweapons were carted away by insurgents during attacks on military bases and inthe course of gun – battles with troops and were later converted to use by them.
The Acting GeneralOfficer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Brig Gen Abubakar Harunaexpressed optimism that the success of the operation would open a window of opportunity for the remaining insurgents and terrorists to surrender.
“With thisoperation, we envisage many of them will surrender as they have started doing,”he stated.
He commended thetroops for their commitment to ending the war against insurgency in thenortheast and urged them to sustain the tempo.
He assured themilitary authorities would continue toaddress the welfare of troops in the frontline and their families.
Sambisa, a vast areaand forested landmass is located in Borno’s central part, northeast Nigeria. Inthe past, entering this area could have been the most disastrous adventure toundertake even by military troops as the insurgents could have rolled out tanksand vehicles laden with explosive devices to attack and repel the incursion.
The times have changedand the military had just made its third successful incursion into thestronghold of the group.
It could be recalledthat by late 2014, Boko Haram men fled Maiduguri, Borno’s capital to form a newbase in Sambisa forest area following a civil resistance to their activities bya group of young volunteers later known as Civilian Joint Task Force.
The military reclaimedthe area from Boko Haram later 2016 and even held its drill in the forestedland in mid March 2017. It was the first major move at reclaiming the area. InJune 2022, the military also held a shooting exercise in the terrorist’s formerenclave to demonstrate its control over the area.
And for the thirdtime, the military operated and cleared the forest, including rescuing some abductees.