ADF

The Commander of a Regional Force Believes Stability and Peace Will Brighten the Future of the Lake Chad Basin ADF STAFF Nigerian Army Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor is commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) headquartered in N’Djamena, Chad. From 2016 to 2017 he served as theater commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Nigeria’s military mission to defeat Boko Haram. A signals officer, he has served in numerous peacekeeping missions including the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group in Sierra Leone. He also served as 3 Division Signal Brigade commander in Nigeria’s northeast and, at the direction of…

The Multinational Joint Task Force Shows the Strengths and Limits of Collective Security Action ADF STAFF With an ability to hop across borders and exploit weak spots in the four countries surrounding Lake Chad, Boko Haram took advantage of a divided region to gain strength. The affected countries decided there was only one way to tackle this problem: Join forces. The result was the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a 10,500-person regional military effort designed to stamp out Boko Haram once and for all. The MNJTF was established by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in 1998 to fight highway banditry and other…

Diffa State launched a program to reintegrate insurgents and bring peace to its villages. ADF STAFF The need for DDR — disarmament, demobilization and reintegration — of surrendering insurgents is as old as warfare itself. Rebels grow tired of fighting, they surrender to their victors, and they go through a process of rehabilitation before returning to society. In the case of Boko Haram insurgents, DDR is particularly complex. It can include not just surrendering fighters, but their wives and children, as well as former hostages. Boko Haram also has an extremist ideology with fighters vowing to destroy the state and…

ADF STAFF Lawlessness and terror have plagued Somalia for years. Although an African Union peacekeeping force has improved matters in the East African nation, violence is still a threat. In late October 2017, militants attacked the Hotel Naso Hablod in the Hamarweyne district of Mogadishu, killing 29 people during a 12-hour siege. At least 12 of those killed were police officers. Earlier that month, children in T-shirts and shorts played in the water near the ruins of a building in the same district, underscoring the dichotomy of life in Somalia: Children play. Adults buy goods in city markets. Somalis have…

Operation Lafiya Dole Puts Enduring Peace Within Reach for Northeast Nigeria ADF STAFF The military operation was as important symbolically as it was strategically. On December 22, 2016, Nigeria’s Armed Forces advanced on “Camp Zairo,” a base deep in the Sambisa Forest that had served as Boko Haram’s nerve center. The assault began in the early morning with an aerial bombardment. Alpha Jets, F-7 supersonic jets and Mi-35 combat helicopters pounded the camp. After the bombing, ground troops backed by close air support advanced with little resistance and, during a mop-up operation, arrested 1,240 suspected Boko Haram fighters and family…

Military force alone won’t eliminate Boko Haram; the country must address the problems that led to the group’s creation. DR. HUSSEIN SOLOMON Since the insurgency started in 2009, the extremist group Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands and forced 2.6 million people from their homes. The group is the single biggest threat to peace and security in Nigeria. But Nigeria’s military and civilian leaders agree that stopping Boko Haram will require more than just bullets and bombs. “You can never solve any of these problems with military solutions,” said Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, Nigeria’s former chief of defense staff.…

Air Power is a Critical Tool in Stopping Boko Haram ADF STAFF On Friday, September 1, 2017, Boko Haram extremists took a break from their warfare to observe a holiday. Hundreds of the fighters gathered under trees in the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. Nigerian surveillance spotted them. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) dispatched fighter jets. An Alpha Jet began the attack with bombs, “neutralizing” hundreds of the fighters, said a report published in Nigeria’s Daily Post. A second jet followed with a bomb attack, and a third fighter used rockets to strafe fleeing insurgents. “After the attacks,…

A Study of Boko Haram’s Public Communications Can Offer Hints About Its Strategy ADF STAFF In July 2011, the Nigerian government unveiled plans to make telecommunications companies dedicate toll-free phone lines so civilians could report Boko Haram activity. Months later, insurgent spokesman Abu Qaqa threatened to attack service providers and Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) offices. “We have realized that the mobile phone operators and the NCC have been assisting security agencies in tracking and arresting our members by bugging their lines and enabling the security agents to locate the position of our members,” Qaqa announced, according to a 2013 article by Freedom Onuoha on the E-International…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Somalia of the early 1970s was a country with style. In Mogadishu, men wore afros and flared pants, while women sported stylish dresses with their heads uncovered. The city’s architecture was proof of its centuries of cross-cultural trade. Now Somalis around the world can relive these rich memories of Mogadishu through an archive of more than 10,000 tapes uncovered in 2016 by Vik Sohonie in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland. The rich and varied recordings feature funk, rock, jazz and Bollywood influences. The tapes harken back to a time of relative economic and…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS The president of African athletics says the continent will bid to host the 2025 World Championships. Africa has never staged the biennial track and field event, which started in 1983, despite being home to many world champions. Confederation of African Athletics President Hamad Kalkaba Malboum said he believes a bid is set to come from one of six African nations. “We are talking with Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco — those countries have the facilities,” said Malboum of Cameroon. “People said that Africa could not host the World Cup in football, but we did…