IN just four days, the Boko Haram group launched two attacks against Nigerian civilians and the military.
The initial attack was carried out on Babangida town in Yobe State on Sunday, but troops of the Nigerian Army repelled the terrorists.
Also, on Wednesday, the Boko Haram group attacked a military base in Rann, the administrative headquarters of Kala-Balge Local Government Area of Borno State.
They claimed to have ‘killed and dislodged’ ten soldiers of the Nigerian military.
During the invasion, about 17 people were reportedly killed, including an aid worker.
Spokesperson for the Army Onyeama Nwachukwu confirmed the attack to The ICIR on Wednesday; however, he said details of causalities were not available yet.
Nwachukwu said after the attack, the Nigerian troops launched a counterattack and have regained Rann.
The attacks come 18 days after the Islamic militant group, the Taliban took over the helms of power in Afghanistan.
The Chief Executive Officer of Agent-X Security Timothy Avele had told The ICIR that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan posed many implications for Nigeria and West Africa.
He warned that one of the major implications was a possible increase in attacks and recruitment of more members by the terrorist group.
“Foremost is the likely increase of attacks and rise in recruitment of volunteer fundamentalists as fighters. The idea is that if the Taliban can do it, then we can do it,” Avele said.
He also said that another implication was that there would likely be more terrorists support in terms of funding and logistics from the locals, highly placed politicians and foreign interests.
Although, he said it was unlikely that Boko Haram could take over the federal government in the foreseeable future.
The ICIR also reported that security experts urged the Nigerian government to be on ‘red alert’ following the Taliban takeover.
But the Nigerian Army said the attacks were a result of the massive surrender of terrorists.
Army Spokesperson Nwachukwu said the terrorist group were attacking to make a statement that they were still capable of carrying out attacks.
“What they are trying to do is a face saving measure to make a pronouncement that they are still potent and they have the capacity to carry out an offensive but the facts remain that they have been depleted and as it stands today, several of their members have turned their backs on them and surrendered to our troops,” Nwachukwu said.
When asked if the attacks could be related to the recent takeover in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Nwachukwu said it was possible.
“What happened in Afghanistan could precipitate an international contagion which is that other people could contact that thing. It could be a kind of propellant or drive for other international terrorist groups to begin to aspire to want to ascend to takeover political power like the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Nwachukwu told The ICIR.
However, he said it was impossible for the ISWAP to takeover power in Nigeria.
Nwachukwu said since 2009, Boko Haram had taken actions to attack seats of power in Borno and Yobe state, but they have not been able to take over any of them due to the resilience of the Nigerian military.
“Remember that Boko Haram were in Abuja here and conducting series of attacks exploding IDPs even as far as Kogi state and evidently they were heading for Lagos state but we pushed them back into the islands where they are hibernating and attacking soft targets and at times our military deployments,” the army spokesperson said.
Earlier in April, the governor of Niger State Abubakar Bello said Boko Haram insurgents have taken over the Kauri community. He said the terrorists hoisted their flag in the community.
The terrorists could also attack the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) if care were not taken, he said.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94