On a day he arrived at the war theatre alongside the service chiefs as directed by President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede, disclosed that credible intelligence indicates that persons responsible for terrorist attacks over the past 15 years are from the affected states.
He therefore called on the people of Borno and Yobe states to actively participate in the fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, warning that local complicity has hindered military operations in the region.
The Defence chief stated this while addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu, the Theatre Commander of North East Operation HADIN KAI, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and other senior military officers in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
According to him, “We are here to review our strategies in the fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in the North East. In the past month, there have been attacks by terrorists, especially during Ramadan, but these challenges are not new, and we are on top of the situation.
“Unfortunately, many of the perpetrators are our brothers, sisters, and cousins. We know them. When Kukawa was attacked, we discovered two wounded terrorists hiding inside the village during cordon and search operations.”
The Chief of Defence Staff maintained that residents must take ownership of the fight, asserting that local cooperation is critical to ending insurgency in the region.
Airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force Air Component, under joint task force of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), have destroyed terrorist location used for staging attacks across the Lake Chad Basin.
The destruction of the location at Abirma, terrorist hideouts in the southern axis of the Lake Chad region of Borno State, followed a precision air interdiction mission conducted on 17 March 2026.
NAF’s spokesman, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, said in a statement that Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) indicated that the strikes significantly degraded the terrorists’ capacity to utilise the location as a staging ground for attacks across the Lake Chad Basin.
Describing the area as a confirmed insurgent enclave in the region, Ejodame said the operation was executed based on credible Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), which confirmed the active presence of terrorist fighters within the settlement.
“Subsequent aerial observation revealed insurgent movements around concealed structures deliberately hidden under dense vegetation, a tactic frequently employed to evade detection.
“Following positive target identification and rigorous verification in line with established operational procedures, NAF air assets executed precision strikes on the identified locations.
“The targets were engaged with precision munitions, resulting in the destruction of multiple terrorist structures and the disruption of their activities in the area,” the NAF spokesman said.
