By Augustine Ehikioya
With the assurance that the security situation in the North East has remained relatively calm, the Theatre Commander, Joint Task Force North East Operation HADIN KAI, Major General Abdulssalam Abubakar, said that troops are now more alert than ever before.
This, he said, has positioned them well to swiftly respond to any emerging threat in the region.
According to him, they are now rendering 100 per cent service to their fatherland with their needs being adequately met and other incentives provided under the COAS policies.
The Theatre Commander spoke to the Security Watch Africa crew in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Reeling out some achievements of the operation, he said that 167 terrorists have been neutralised and 27 key leaders taken out in the last 4 months.
He appealed to the people in the State to stop their complicity with the terrorists in order to effectively cut their logistics supplies and end terror in the region.
“So while we continue to have pockets of unrest and targeted attacks. They have always been contained by our gallant troops,” he stated.
Noting that recent terrorist attacks had included mostly armed drone attacks, IED incidents, attacks on isolated communities and IDP camps, and kidnap incidents, he added “But troops, in conjunction with other security agencies across the theatre, are actively addressing these challenges, maintaining a vigilant posture and responding swiftly to the threats as they emerge.
“So I will say that the overall situation reflects a sustained effort to restore peace and stability in the region, to enable socio-economic activities to continue to thrive, which is in line with our mandate.
“So I will say that we have achieved this with about 90% degree of success.” the Theatre Commander stated.
Giving credit for the improvement to the COAS policies, he said, “The Chief of Army Staff initiated the soldier-first concept. Now, this philosophy is being implemented here through prioritizing sound administration, enhanced welfare reward system, equipment, support in theatre training, as well as looking into the well-being of the troops. These are all part of the Command Philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff.
“For instance, our soldiers in the theatre here are now better equipped to carry out their missions, and the Chief of Army Staff has also injected new platforms into the theatre with other several novel ideas which were not here before.
“For instance, the Nigerian Army remotely piloted aircraft system was just inducted into the theatre with quite some very good platforms.
“So you also discovered that our soldiers now undergo more realistic theatre training, in addition to the enhanced welfare support.”
The Theatre Commander added that the Chief of Army Staff intervention fund to commanders at all levels has also boosted the fight against terrorism in the region.
According to him, more accommodations are also being built in the barracks by the theatre through the Army Headquarters.
“Intervention through Ration Cash Allowance that was recently enhanced by 100% and the theatre has impressed on all the sectors to ensure the judicious utilization of this fund for the reward system,” he said.
The Chief of Army Staff, he pointed out, is also now granting automatic promotion to soldiers who distinguish themselves in battle.
“We have done that for soldiers that distinguished themselves in …. Malam Fatori in Kanama, Damasak, as well as the last incident in Kareto and Damboa.”
Major General Abdulssalam Abubakar disclosed that the theatre now conducts routine visits to all troops locations and directly engaging with the soldiers to identify their problems so as to resolve them quickly.
“So this kind of approach ensures that the soldiers’ needs are met, fostering a positive and productive environment.
“The troops in the field have received it wholeheartedly, and they are now more ready and poised to give their best 100% knowing that their needs are adequately catered for and that they have a Chief of Army Staff who prioritises their welfare and their well-being at all times.” the TC said.
He gave an instance of troops’ new high morale, as he recalled the 3rd of September 2025 incident, where troops were ambushed by terrorists with two IEDs.
The terrorists, he said, were given a bloody nose by the troops, leading to the neutralisation of 11 terrorists and the recovery of eight AK-47 rifles and other terrorist ordinances.
“This is a clear demonstration and indication that the soldiers are now more committed to give their best, and this particular last incident has been applauded by the Chief of Army Staff, while commendation and other incentives have also been provided to further motivate the soldiers,” he stated.
Speaking on other achievements recorded, he said “The achievements, especially in the last four months have been quite huge, but let me just mention some of the notable ones.
“Starting with the neutralisation of several terrorists. At the last count, if you take a census, from May to August, we have neutralised a total of 167 terrorists and recovered a total of 213 assorted weapons.
“Also in line with our kinetic operations, we also talk about the non-kinetic lines of operation. And in the last couple of weeks, we’ve been able to conduct stabilisation operations at Malam Fatori, Kukawa, Dara, Jim and Kekenu, which led to the return of the internally displaced persons to their ancestral homes.
“We have also carried out a lot of successful decapitation operations, which has led to the taking out of key terrorist leaders such as Abu imam, Abu Fatima that had a bounty of about 100 million naira on his head and several other key terrorist commanders.
“A total of 27 key terrorist leaders have been taken out in the last four months alone.”
According to him, the Operation HADIN KAI is also drawing from the strength of the Command Philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff to boost synergy with other agencies.
“So for us, the relationship with other security agencies has been very cordial and mainly focused on intelligence sharing. Here in Operation HADIN KAI, we do joint security meetings at the theatre with all security agencies to further enhance our synergy.
“You will also notice that we recently ceded the position of the Deputy Theatre Commander to the Nigerian Air Force. That is a two star appointment currently being held by an Air Vice Marshal, and this has led to tremendous synergy in the theatre, especially with the impetus that we now have with our air power.
“And this has very severe, devastating consequence for the terrorists arising from the last attack on Dara Jamel alone, the Air Component Command of the Operation HADIN KAI, in coordination with the Nigerian Army remotely piloted aircraft system, took out over 50 of the terrorists as they retreated towards the Mandara mountains.”
Harping on the kinetic and the non kinetic lines of operations to win asymmetric warfare, he said the kinetic lines of operation is just 30% while the non kinetic line of operation takes 70%.
“Meaning that for the non kinetic line of operation, we are just creating the enabling environment for normalcy to return and for socio-economic activities to thrive.”
He said that the theatre has also carried out medical outreaches across the theatre, renovation of schools and classroom, and the distribution of educational books to students.
According to him, soldiers at some points have also been involved in teaching in some of the IDP camps.
The TC went on, “The Nigerian Army has also heavily invested in facilities infrastructure to include the sinking of boreholes in remote communities that don’t have portable drinking water. We have also been involved in the evacuation and provision of relief materials to flood victims.
“You recall that Maiduguri was flooded not too long ago, and during that period, we conducted Operation FLOOD SANITY 2.
“In fact, it was only the theatre that had platforms that could move because of the specialized equipment that we have. And we brought in additional equipment all the way from Makurdi to aid civil authorities, and we were able to rescue at a minimum of over 5000 people during that flood incident on a daily basis, too.”
He also disclosed that the theatre has continued to escort humanitarian convoys, especially affiliated to the United Nation agencies.
Towards food security, he said that the theatre is also currently providing daily farm protection patrols to farmers in the North East to grant them safe access to their farmlands.
Stressing that once the approach to solving asymmetric warfare goes beyond just the military approach, he said, it becomes a whole of society approach.
“It means that everybody has a stake to play in security. So I look at it as an embodiment of everybody playing specific roles in terms of information sharing, intelligence, and denial of logistics to the terrorist because they have been relegated to the enclaves.
“Yet you find out that this logistics still gets to them in terms of fuel, food, spare parts for the repair of their motorcycles. It means that back in the cities, there is some level of complicity.
“So everybody, all hands must be on deck for us to be able to stamp terrorism out of the Northeast, and we count on the support of the populace to continue to give us the much needed intelligence for us to do the needful. We are almost there, and I’m convinced that very soon, we will get there,” he stated.
