Troops nabbed Ex-Boko Haram who masterminded attacks on troops in Banki

By: Zagazola Makama 

The troops of 152 Battallion, Operation Hadin Kai in Banki have arrested a repentant Boko Haram terrorists, Ba'ana Bdiya also known as "Manci" who masterminded attacks against troops leading to the death of many soldiers.
This is less than one week after  two other  ex-militant, Goni Farouq and Amir Zabu, (The executioner) who were top former Commanders of Boko Haram, were intercepted in a phone conversation, planing attacks against troops. 
Ba'ana was among the thousand of Boko Haram who laid down their arms and  accepted back by  the society after undergoing rehabilitation. But despite renouncing his membership of the terror group, he maintained close  contact with his former colleagues.
An Intelligence Sources, told Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region, that information provided by Ba'ana has helped the Boko Haram to successfully ambushed troops during fighting patrols at Ngauri which led to the killing  of some soldiers in February 2023.
On March 16, 2023, the suspect passed another  information on the movement of troop which enabled the terrorists to attack them with an IED that led  to the killing of three soldiers and injuring of four others in the outskirt of Banki Town.
The sourc lamented that the  real obstacles standing between the troops and the total and final obliteration of Boko Hama terrorists is the nefarious activities of local network of informants. 

There are concerns that the continued  released of  repentant terrorists into society without  proper deradicalisatiob  could subvert the progress made so far in the war against insurgency. 
There is a need to adopt a Multi Sectorial approach rehabilitation of  the former fighters. Beyond this, there is also a need for the Federal Government to come to the aid of the military and the Borno State Government in finding a procedure for handling the over 90,000 ex-militants.