By Kingston Magare 14/5/2025
Boko Haram and Islamic State of West African Province have scored some victory using drones in their war of terror against the Nigeria army in Borno State.
But Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who is the Theatre Commander of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), says his troops are motivated to fight back.
Speaking Tuesday evening in Maiduguri Major-General Abubakar stated that the insurgents are cashing on the porous borders in the Northern part of the country to bring in weapons and it has become a challenge contending with the vast theatre of war.
” Two years ago, we were ready to say that the conflict was over, but the deterioration in the security among Sahel States has also affected us. In-spite of this progress, the terrorists have also adapted,” said Major-General Abubakar
“This is possible due to the relative ease with which they can access technology. For instance, since November of last year, we noticed the introduction of the use of armed drones to carry out attacks. Like you would find in Israel or Ukraine, these drones are difficult to detect by conventional radar detection.”
“Our theatre of operations spans over 150,000 square kilometers—larger than several countries combined. Take the Timbuktu Triangle alone: it covers over 11,000 square kilometers, which is bigger than Rivers and Osun states, and even larger than countries like Jamaica, Kosovo, and The Gambia.”
Despite the challenges Major-General Abubakar stated that the army will not relent in the war against terrorism and insurgency.
“However, let me reassure you that the overall resolve of the Nigerian military is that we will completely defeat this terrorism and restore peace to the region once and for all, in the shortest possible time. We just need the support of the nation.
“The military is fully resolved and resourced to bring the battle to a favourable conclusion. Our troops are highly motivated, and our resilience is not dampened. Several welfare initiatives have been instituted by the military hierarchy which have boosted the morale of troops. This is the level of seriousness that the government attaches to this conflict and in time we will completely defeat this terrorism.”
