Boko Haram going through hard times

Fresh information gathered from the field holds that members of the Boko Haram sect are going through hard times because of resistance from both the Nigerian and Cameroonian armies.

Apart from reports that the leaders of the group are unable to pay salaries to its elements, weather conditions are also shattering their offensive tactics.

Like the proverbial bird in Chinua Achebe’s novel which has learnt to fly without perching, so too have the armies of both Cameroon and Nigeria devised means to ensure that in the months ahead, the issue of Boko Haram would be history.

Since the beginning of the month of September, the assailants have failed in every attack they have waged against the Cameroonian army at the various border points, leaving them with a massive loss in human lives and property.

The latest being the outstanding victory by the Cameroonian army at the El Beid river.

According to a native of Gambarou, Harouna Abba, who relocated to Fotokol for security reasons, the recent defeats inflicted on the Boko Haram have served as an eye opener to them, as they had once considered that they were almost invincible.

The recent happenings have pushed many observers to believe that Boko Haram would soon be history. About 9.00am on September 13, in the course of a shootout between the terrorists and the Cameroon army, the assailants quickly brought down their flag and hoisted a white flag.

Three days earlier, September 11, one of the terrorists, seeing how his comrades had been bloodied, gave in pleading with the Cameroon army not to kill him. He has been detained and kept under intense surveillance.

After his arrest, he intimated that “things are hard for us. The Cameroonian army kills us every day, yet they continue sending us to attack with more force”.

Describing the living conditions within the Boko Haram rang to a team of Rapid Intervention Batallion elements, BIR, he said “we are very well fed but the only problem is that, they have not paid our money as agreed.” Added to this, weather conditions have not been favourable to them.

The heavy rains these days have made it practically impossible for them to use their cars and other means of movement. This has pushed them to get to the field on foot.

Unlike in previous exchanges where the assailants always went back with their corpses, these days, it is very difficult for them to go back with them, as, in the course of a defeat, they loose both elements and transport facilities.

Since the Nigerian army, earlier deemed by many as incapable, started retaliating, Boko Haram has gotten more and more frustrated.

In a bid to avoid bomb blasts by the Nigerian army, they are moving south towards Koumche and Kala Goubdo, localities which are very close to Waza in Cameroon.

They have abstained from going towards Maiduguri, for fear of the Nigerian army which has retrieved over 70 percent of the territory occupied by the sect.