Last week’s piece on this page outlined how the effect of insurgency and counter-insurgency seems to have almost become a permanent scenario that has come to be part of living in Nigeria. The piece recounted how the country recently lost military personnel including high ranking officers and civilian casualties in large numbers through coordinated ambush attacks. The first part of this piece further gave a rundown of how counter insurgency in the form of accidental air strikes had taken its toll on the lives of the civilian population in Nigeria.
As if the April 10, 2026 coordinated attacks by the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) on military formations in Benisheikh, Ngamdu, and Pulka towns, which claimed the lives of Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah and 17 soldiers were not shocking enough or the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) accidental air strike of April 11, 2026 on a weekly market along the Borno-Yobe border which reportedly killed over 200 people was not also devastating enough, the Commanding Officer of the 242 Battalion, Monguno, Col. I. A. Mohammed and six soldiers, again, lost their lives when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) reportedly planted by insurgents went off in the Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State.
Colonel Mohammed was killed while on a reinforcement mission following an attack on a military formation by insurgents in the late hours of April 12, 2026 when Troops of Sector 3 of the OPHK came under an isolated Tango terrorist attack on Charlie 13 location in Monguno. The officer had responded to a distress call from troops under attack at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) linked to the 242 Battalion. This ambush in which Colonel Mohammed was killed occurred just four days after terrorists killed General Braimah of the 29 Task Force, and 17 soldiers. This was even as residents of the Jilli Market shelling by the NAF were still mourning the dead and traders were counting losses.
The media information officer of Operation Hadin Kai (OPKH), Lt Col Sani Uba, said, “Regrettably, the commanding officer, while courageously proceeding to the troops’ location to personally assess the situation, encountered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which severely affected his vehicle, leading to his death alongside six other gallant personnel.” The OPHK media information officer said the commanding officer’s actions, even after the immediate threat had been neutralised, reflected the highest traditions of military leadership; courage, selfless service, and leading from the front.
On Monday April 20, 2026 (eight days after the killing of Colonel Mohammed), bandits killed three soldiers in a pre-dawn attack on a joint security post in Kemanji community, Kaiama Local Government Area. The attack also left several security operatives injured, while motorcycles and ammunition belonging to the security team were taken by the assailants. The gunmen stormed Kemanji community in large numbers and targeted the security formation comprising soldiers, forest guards and vigilantes.
In Edo State, a driver was killed and an unspecified number of passengers were abducted along the Benin-Lagos Highway when gunmen suspected to be kidnappers reportedly ambushed a GUO Transport bus on Sunday April 19, 2026; killing the driver and abducting passengers. The attackers were said to have intercepted the bus along the Benin-Ore axis of the road and opened fire, forcing the vehicle to a halt. The spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, ASP Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the incident, saying that the police had launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.
Meanwhile, family members of the 416 persons abducted from Ngoshe in Gwoza LGA of Borno State have continued to suffer agonizing moments since March 3, 2026 when the victims were taken into captivity by insurgents who have threatened to kill the hostages if their demand for a N5 billion ransom is not redeemed in time. A 72-hour deadline for the payment of the ransom was issued on Sunday April 19, 2026.
There’s no region of the country, today, that is not threatened by one form of insecurity or the other. Lives and property have become so unsafe in Nigeria as if the inexcusable situation had come to stay forever. Most Nigerians feel government is not doing enough to bring the prolonged spell of insecurity in the country to an end.
The Northern leaders recently raised grave concerns about the recent surge of terrorist attacks in the region despite the presence of a special security team from the United States military to help salvage the situation. Speaking on behalf of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, said “We have been calling on the authorities to do something about it,” adding that, “… the intelligence is not discouraging the attacks. It is proof that up to now the country’s political and military authorities have not decided to firmly deal with this problem, and innocent people continue suffering.”
Nigerians are worried that insecurity continues to worsen instead of fizzling out. It is either bloodshed arising from terrorist attacks by insurgents and other criminal elements or abductions for huge ransoms that subject law-abiding citizens to very humiliating and traumatic moments. Seventeen solid years is a protracted period for insurgency, banditry, abductions for ransom and other forms of criminalities to have remained intractable in a country like Nigeria; given its relative military strength that is embedded in its formidable armed forces. Unfortunately, rather than make Nigeria safer, the country only gets more insecure even with American boots on Nigerian soil.
Too many officers and men of the country’s armed forces have been lost to insecurity. A colossal number of citizens have also been lost to insurgency and terrorist activities. Insecurity in the country should not have lingered this long given the constitutional truth that government has a duty and responsibility to protect lives and property. It is time for government to do everything to deal with the painful season of insecurity from becoming a permanent phenomenon in the country. May Allah liberate Nigerians from the torment of insurgency to which Nigerians have been subjected to for almost a dozen and half years, Amin.
