So I see a lot of military theoreticians here.Supposing you are made Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army, what practical strategies/tactics will you deploy to vanquish Boko haram within the above time frame? Let's Discuss.

patwilly:
So I see a lot of military theoreticians here.Supposing you are made Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army, what practical strategies/tactics will you deploy to vanquish Boko haram within the above time frame? Let's Discuss.

6 months? NATO has been battling the Taliban of Afghanistan since 2001. The war on terror is not a conventional warfare, when you attack these terrorists brace yourself up for counter attack, they have people joining their ranks everyday and they are highly motivated. But Nigeria can still do better if it has good intelligence gathering. That is what Nigerian military lacks.

dermmy:


6 months? NATO has been battling the Taliban of Afghanistan since 2001. The war on terror is not a conventional warfare, when you attack these terrorists brace yourself up for counter attack, they have people joining their ranks everyday and they are highly motivated. But Nigeria can still do better if it has good intelligence gathering. That is what Nigerian military lacks.

Ok fair enough. What immediate strategies would you put in place? For instance, what do you think of the super camp strategy employed by the NA in tackling the insurgency in the north east?

Starvation strategy. cut all their food supply, medical supply, fuel supply and Ammunition supply, a hungry man will lost his will to fight. Lunch a full all out assault against them trust me Book haram will be history.

2 Things:

1. cut off food supplies like mysticwarrior said above
2. Carpet bomb the whole of sambisa forest

bigl:
2 Things:

1. cut off food supplies like mysticwarrior said above
2. Carpet bomb the whole of sambisa forest

Does Nigerian military even know where the supply comes from?

Does Nigerian military have what it takes to do carpet bombing?

dermmy:


Does Nigerian military even know where the supply comes from?

Does Nigerian military have what it takes to do carpet bombing?

My broda, sebi we sha dey assume ni?

Abeg, no even bother to ask if dem know where supply comes from or what is takes to carpet bomb...

it is well....

dermmy:


Does Nigerian military even know where the supply comes from?

Does Nigerian military have what it takes to do carpet bombing?

yes the military knows how they get their supply, Boko haram don't get fuel supply from the air, it is through land, these supplies including foods, Ammunition and medical supply are secretly allowed to pass through army checkpoints to boko haram strongholds, the top army generals are all aware of this, not until Nigeria do something about this Boko haram will continue to wreck havoc on the Nation.

Seal the borders with our neighbors. If they are serious about ending the war too, they can join us by helping to evacuate their citizens from towns bordering Nigeria. Nigeria should evacuate all of its citizens from major towns in bornu and relocate them to just three major town and maiduguri.
Militancy exists only where people exists. They cant operate in a vaccum. Taliban, ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc They all thrive among the local populace

Move people out of these towns and let the military set the rule in just a month. Bornu is just one out of thirty-six states in Nigeria.

mysticwarrior:
Starvation strategy. cut all their food supply, medical supply, fuel supply and Ammunition supply, a hungry man will lost his will to fight. Lunch a full all out assault against them trust me Book haram will be history.

how? how do u cut off their food supply when they can get food from neighbouring countries.... this is an insurgency and not outright war.

theenchanter:
how? how do u cut off their food supply when they can get food from neighbouring countries.... this is an insurgency and not outright war.

block the boarders with tight security, compel chad cameroun and Niger to do the same.

mysticwarrior:
Starvation strategy. cut all their food supply, medical supply, fuel supply and Ammunition supply, a hungry man will lost his will to fight. Lunch a full all out assault against them trust me Book haram will be history.

Easier said than done. With the porous borders up north, who's to tell how and where these devils receive their supplies. Besides with little intelligence or the lack thereof , it will be virtually impossible to this within any meaningful time.

persius555:
Seal the borders with our neighbors. If they are serious about ending the war too, they can join us by helping to evacuate their citizens from towns bordering Nigeria. Nigeria should evacuate all of its citizens from major towns in bornu and relocate them to just three major town and maiduguri.
Militancy exists only where people exists. They cant operate in a vaccum. Taliban, ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc They all thrive among the local populace

Move people out of these towns and let the military set the rule in just a month. Bornu is just one out of thirty-six states in Nigeria.

The problem with this is the serious refugee /humanitarian crises the government will have on it's hands. Just imagine cramming some 4million people into an area the size of Abuja..

patwilly:

The problem with this is the serious refugee /humanitarian crises the government will have on it's hands. Just imagine cramming some 4million people into an area the size of Abuja..

If we can afford to live with Boko Haram for ten years and the country is still standing, half a year of sacrifice to put this human catastrophe to an end is not going to be costly either. The way the crisis is lingering, we might as well wake up one day and incorporate these terrorists into our statehood.

God forbid, though. But something just has to give

patwilly:

Easier said than done. With the porous borders up north, who's to tell how and where these devils receive their supplies. Besides with little intelligence or the lack thereof , it will be virtually impossible to this within any meaningful time.

those borders could easily be manned, militarized and heavily fortified that not even a fly or ant can pass through, our government has a hand in the insurgency and that is why all this strategies are not being applied.

patwilly:

The problem with this is the serious refugee /humanitarian crises the government will have on it's hands. Just imagine cramming some 4million people into an area the size of Abuja..

if Nigeria can Carter for millions of Liberian refugees during and after the Liberian civil war Nigeria could also relocate those locals from the north east to Niger state which has vast land, by doing so it will cripple the activeness of Boko haram, these insurgents also forcefully recruit and conscripts the locals to become fighters.

mysticwarrior:
if Nigeria can Carter for millions of Liberian refugees during and after the Liberian civil war Nigeria could also relocate those locals from the north east to Niger state which has vast land, by doing so it will cripple the activeness of Boko haram, these insurgents also forcefully recruit and conscripts the locals to become fighters.

Boko Haram know a large number of people in the North East share the same ideology that they violently spread. The modus operandi of most religious terror groups is to glorify their exploits with the use of technology, especially social media. It worked in the middle east, i dont see how it will fail in this part of the world.
The entire North is a fertile ground for recruitment for any terrorist with religious doctrine. Poverty is rife, Govt present is near zero, religious beliefs is more sacrosanct than economic survival.

It is high time somebody in Abuja summons the courage and embark on a process of properly identifying everybody in the North East. If the country has to build a DNA database for that region alone, then so be it. The earlier we start thinking outside the box, the better the chances of ending the war as soon as possible.

I live in the Niger delta area, and I have been to the creeks before and after the aggression of militancy, from what I saw there it will take more than 5 years for anyone who was not raised there to master and navigate that terrain, the swamps and creek all have so many similar routs, but during "Operation Crocodile smile" the Nigerian military held those places like they have been there for centuries, the blockades of all the creek and water routs was powerful that even the fishes and creatures on the rivers trembles with fear, the militants and locals there were subjected to heavy intimidating military presence and there was peace and tranquility everywhere. If you know what the Nigerian military did at Free town in Siera leon, Monrovia in Liberia, Ogoni in Rivers state, Kaima, and Odi in Bayelsa state, Okerenkoko and Gbaramatu in Delta, then you will understand me when I say the military and the Nigerian Govt has a hand in the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency,

mysticwarrior:
those borders could easily be manned, militarized and heavily fortified that not even a fly or ant can pass through, our government has a hand in the insurgency and that is why all this strategies are not being applied.

If the US can not secure the Afghan border, how can Nigeria secure its border?

Israel was only able to secure its border with the West Bank and the Gaza strip by building sky high border walls.

I very much doubt your assertions and even if it will be possible, the cost will be astronomical!

grandstar:


If the US can not secure the Afghan border, how can Nigeria secure its border?

Israel was only able to secure its border with the West Bank and the Gaza strip by building sky high border walls.

I very much doubt your assertions and even if it will be possible, the cost will be astronomical!

let me quickly remind you that Afghanistan is completly engulfed by mountainous terrain, oyes I know this cos I read about the soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US military operations in that country, these mountains has secrets underground tunnels and that is where the mujahedeens use to smuggle arms, get supplies and bring in more fighters from Pakistan, the US uses advance air monitoring system to watch the borders but they couldn't control or suppress the resistance fighters, because they come in through tunnels which are under those Afghan mountains. Nigeria has a large population and we can strengthen the size of our military from 150,000 to 400,000, we can use 60 thousand soldiers to secure the border, and use thousands of locally made drones to monitor the activities of the borders. Boko haram uses motorcycles and hilux with mounted guns to lunch attacks, and they come in large numbers, let me tell you something have a cousin soldier who was badly wounded at Gwoza by boko haram, he said there is nothing like a surprise attack, that military intelligence would notify the soldiers that a large numbers of Boko haram fighters are advancing into their position, and every soldier is expected to fight and empty his magazine until he was the last man alive, they would call for air support one hour before the attack and it would have take just 25 munites aircraft to arrive the sceen but the air force would declined, the Nigerian military and government know what they are doing, and my question to you is can Boko haram try such under Abacha's regime?

mysticwarrior:
let me quickly remind you that Afghanistan is completly engulfed by mountainous terrain, oyes I know this cos I read about the soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US military operations in that country, these mountains has secrets underground tunnels and that is where the mujahedeens use to smuggle arms, get supplies and bring in more fighters from Pakistan, the US uses advance air monitoring system to watch the borders but they couldn't control or suppress the resistance fighters, because they come in through tunnels which are under those Afghan mountains. Nigeria has a large population and we can strengthen the size of our military from 150,000 to 400,000, we can use 60 thousand soldiers to secure the border, and use thousands of locally made drones to monitor the activities of the borders. Boko haram uses motorcycles and hilux with mounted guns to lunch attacks, and they come in large numbers, let me tell you something have a cousin soldier who was badly wounded at Gwoza by boko haram, he said there is nothing like a surprise attack, that military intelligence would notify the soldiers that a large numbers of Boko haram fighters are advancing into their position, and every soldier is expected to fight and empty his magazine until he was the last man alive, they would call for air support one hour before the attack and it would have take just 25 munites aircraft to arrive the sceen but the air force would declined, the Nigerian military and government know what they are doing, and my question to you is can Boko haram try such under Abacha's regime?

I believe what your cousin is saying is partly true. I am sure they are not aware of all attacks. It seems doubtful.

Your story reminds me of China. When China built the Great Wall of China, it was to keep the Barbaric horde out. Within a hundred years, it was successfully invaded thrice. How did the invaders do it? They simply bribed the border guards.

As long as there is corruption, insincerity and other matters, no arsenal size will be able to contain these ragtag insurgents..

dermmy:


6 months? NATO has been battling the Taliban of Afghanistan since 2001. The war on terror is not a conventional warfare, when you attack these terrorists brace yourself up for counter attack, they have people joining their ranks everyday and they are highly motivated. But Nigeria can still do better if it has good intelligence gathering. That is what Nigerian military lacks.

Nigeria military can't do nothing because they lacks all strategy apart from point and shoot and very lazy plus corrupt.

Taba21:


Nigeria military can't do nothing because they lacks all strategy apart from point and shoot and very lazy plus corrupt.

if you feel that Nigeria military are lazy go to Ojukwu's grave and ask him about his experience during the Nigerian civil war, or Start up an insurrection and declare you own republic, then comeback here to tell us your experience.

mysticwarrior:
if you feel that Nigeria military are lazy go to Ojukwu's grave and ask him about his experience during the Nigerian civil war, or Start up an insurrection and declare you own republic, then comeback here to tell us your experience.

The Nigeria military that we have now is a far cry from what we had then. Since the advent if democracy, we have seen compromise upon comprises, all solidified by deep sense of secrecy.
The present crop of military leadership leaves much to desire. Fencing our borders will solve nothing if we don't work on our internal security mechanism.

persius555:


The Nigeria military that we have now is a far cry from what we had then. Since the advent if democracy, we have seen compromise upon comprises, all solidified by deep sense of secrecy.
The present crop of military leadership leaves much to desire. Fencing our borders will solve nothing if we don't work on our internal security mechanism.

my brother we have a good internal security network but corruption would not allow it to flourish and blossom, if you go to a police station and make a report that somebody robbed you of #20,000 the police will not respond, but go there and report that your 20milion is stolen by an unidentified gunman, within 48hrs they will nab that robber, its all about what they stand to gain. Our external security may appear weak but if a country like Cameroon, Niger or Benin Republic decide to invade Nigeria what do you think would be the outcome? Nigerian soldiers will bring down hell upon them, we careless about our internal security but we desplay our powerful might when dealing with our African neighbors, Nigerian would consider it a shame for any African Country to invade and attack our borders just to start up a war, ask the Cameroonians what their soldiers suffered during the Bakassi tension between both countries. Secondly during the regime of Obasanjo A transborder robber called "Tijaoni" attacked Obasanjos daughter Iyabo, two children died in that attack, within 45munites Obasanjo ordered the closure of all Nigerian borders, for 3 days and the President of Benin republic personaly came to Obj to beg him with a promise to capture Tijaoni, Two days later Tijani was captured in a village near Timbuktu in Mali. My brother go kidnap dangote or Buratai daughter and try to smuggle her out of the country, that time u go know say Nigeria get tight border security.

I dont believe there is one currently. Im not a military guy. We woukd need to copy the example in Syria if we want the best results. We need to air support to take out terrorists cells. Ground forces should be focused on containing them.

Other than that disrupt the terrorist economy by letting people trade and do business. We just license and facilitate trade. The last thing is getting oversea terrorist funding out the way.

Blue3k:
I dont believe there is one currently. Im not a military guy. We woukd need to copy the example in Syria if we want the best results. We need to air support to take out terrorists cells. Ground forces should be focused on containing them.

Other than that disrupt the terrorist economy by letting people trade and do business. We just license and facilitate trade. The last thing is getting oversea terrorist funding out the way.

the best way is to suffocate them, don't let them have access to food water, medical and ammunition supplies, cut all their supply rout that way, they will only need devine intervention to help them survive from the brutal jaws of annihilation. Isil was defeated in Iraq with this strategy.

mysticwarrior:
my brother we have a good internal security network but corruption would not allow it to flourish and blossom, if you go to a police station and make a report that somebody robbed you of #20,000 the police will not respond, but go there and report that your 20milion is stolen by an unidentified gunman, within 48hrs they will nab that robber, its all about what they stand to gain. Our external security may appear weak but if a country like Cameroon, Niger or Benin Republic decide to invade Nigeria what do you think would be the outcome? Nigerian soldiers will bring down hell upon them, we careless about our internal security but we desplay our powerful might when dealing with our African neighbors, Nigerian would consider it a shame for any African Country to invade and attack our borders just to start up a war, ask the Cameroonians what their soldiers suffered during the Bakassi tension between both countries. Secondly during the regime of Obasanjo A transborder robber called "Tijaoni" attacked Obasanjos daughter Iyabo, two children died in that attack, within 45munites Obasanjo ordered the closure of all Nigerian borders, for 3 days and the President of Benin republic personaly came to Obj to beg him with a promise to capture Tijaoni, Two days later Tijani was captured in a village near Timbuktu in Mali. My brother go kidnap dangote or Buratai daughter and try to smuggle her out of the country, that time u go know say Nigeria get tight border security.

I Dey believe your yarn my brother.

persius555:
Seal the borders with our neighbors. If they are serious about ending the war too, they can join us by helping to evacuate their citizens from towns bordering Nigeria. Nigeria should evacuate all of its citizens from major towns in bornu and relocate them to just three major town and maiduguri.
Militancy exists only where people exists. They cant operate in a vaccum. Taliban, ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc They all thrive among the local populace

Move people out of these towns and let the military set the rule in just a month. Bornu is just one out of thirty-six states in Nigeria.

Apt

mysticwarrior:
if you feel that Nigeria military are lazy go to Ojukwu's grave and ask him about his experience during the Nigerian civil war, or Start up an insurrection and declare you own republic, then comeback here to tell us your experience.

Forget about the war fought by foreign allies collaboration.
Let them first finish with the insurgency in the north then come and quote me.

Taba21:


Forget about the war fought by foreign allies collaboration.
Let them first finish with the insurgency in the north then come and quote me.

it was nigerian soldiers who did they fighting during the civil war and not foreign solders, Nigerian army generals and the top northern leaders have a hand in the insurgency and that is why they are all reluctant to end the insurrection, because of what they gain from it.