Sambisan Juggernauts (Episode Two)
Previously on Sambisan Juggernauts
"They say the first casualty in war is truth. I guess the second are the poor masses then. Our parents. Our wives. Our sisters and daughters. They seem to be the high price the enemy always jump at. To capture . . . to use as shield . . . and most times, to fulfil their carnal desires. Wasn't it enough that the bastards captured the people they wanted? Nah, but they went ahead to also capture their towns and kill more of them. And people dear to me are lost. Hang in there devils, I'm coming to unleash hell on you too now. I'm coming to conquer back the world you took. I'm coming to join the war . . ."
It was dawn, early on Tuesday morning, and birds were already chirping all around in the forest. It had seemed she'd escaped from them successfully, but Dinah eventually came back face to face from those she was escaping from. She stood quivering extremely with fright as her heart was petrified with fear. There they were, right in front of her.
"You want to escape?" One of the two guards asked her instantly.
Dinah was only shaking, literally speechless and going on her knees immediately to beg them. By now the tears were surging profusely from her eyes.
The guard went on to grab her. Furious at her decision to escape, he pushed her and then demanded she began to return back into the forest. Dinah had no choice, with the gun he was pointing behind her and his threat to rape her if she tried escaping again, she had to begin walking back, heading into the forest as he accompanied her. Her perfect plan to escape from the terrorists had failed just like that. She was going to live longer than she expected in the captivity now.
Soon, they got back into the terrorists' camp and Dinah was made to join a group of girls. Most of them were asked to stay under a particular tree there which they called, 'the Tree of Life', and Dinah could see the girls there were all pleading, crying, and praying that a means of rescue would come their way one way or the another. The terrorists were just literally cruel and devilish. It was clear that they hadn't planned to abduct the girls initially. They were only on a mission to steal ammunition equipments from the town. But when they discovered that the school was filled--and with female students--they resorted to an hostage mission--hopeful that Shekau, their leader, would be highly interested in such. The terrorists went ahead to divide the girls to be put into their different camps in Madayi, Dogon, Chuku and Meri villages all in same Borno State.
That morning, news reached the entire world about the kidnapping of the 276 Chibok female students from their school the previous night by Boko Haram. Governmental authorities in the Country including the military high command had tensions rocking in them as grieving parents got to learn about the abduction of their children and demanded action. International bodies got in touch with the Government almost immediately too with concern and showing interests to help search for and rescue the abducted Chibok girls. The Royal Air Force of UK launched an Operation Turus to help find the girls as soon as possible.
In the Nigerian military high command though, the tensions began increasing. How could such large scale offensive have been carried out by Boko Haram with no opposition from the military troops and securities stationed close to that area? Not long afterwards, it was learned that the Army Battalion stationed close to Chibok had received intel a few hours before from neighbouring residents about an impending attack by a large number of Boko Haram troops on Chibok town. But the Battalion couldn't instantly provide reinforcements because troops and resources had been over-extended. A few detachment of soldiers were already stationed at the conventionally peaceful Chibok and so by the time the terrorists arrived, about 100 of them, the dozen or so soldiers at Chibok held them off for up to an hour before being outgunned with no reinforcements arriving for them.
At the end, the reason boiled down to the corruption and complacency of key leaders among the Nigerian authorities including the military for failing to provide needed support, resources and avenues for the willing troops ready to annihilate the Boko Haram group effectively and entirely. The first and major thing the Army was required to do now was to carry out a Search & Rescue operation for the girls before things could escalate. Though this was a hostage situation now, it required careful planning, patience and tactics to be involved so that it wouldn't result in a case of death of the girls. In the meantime, plans for this would be carried out.
One week later.
A platoon of soldiers in the 7th Division positioned at the Damboa military base were about to embark on a mission to also join in the search for and rescue of the abducted Chibok girls that had been captured recently and Lt. Andy was among them. He had to in fact.
Andy was infuriated and saddened. He couldn't still comprehend how Dinah, his younger sister, with the other 270+ girls were abducted by the evil terrorist sect which he loathed so much. Some hours before the group struck, he'd actually spoken with Dinah on phone through one of her teacher's line. And she was fine, determined to study for her upcoming exam. But it was so surprising she wasn't available again--he'd received the news that she was among the abductees. Now that he's heard she'd been captured too, he was ready to unleash all his fury on the cruel sect now. That mission they were about to launch would give him the opportunity. He'd join in smoking out the terrorists, rescuing the girls and then eventually taking out the Islamists. That was his prime duty. And he knew he owed it to Dinah, most especially. The mission had been ordered by the Army HQ with supports from other arms including the Defence Intelligence--the DIA.
The time was 2:00pm and the troops headed for the mission in their convoy of four trucks. By the time they reached their area of operation (AO) around the Chibok town, they began conducting patrols basically then collecting information from the residents about the operations of the terrorists--with where exactly the girls were taken to. After spending a considerable number of time in that AO with Intel about and certain materials of the terrorist group collected, they completed their mission for the day and then began to head back to their base. By now it was evening, the time was around 9:00pm.
The army convoy travelled through the major route leading back to Damboa. With majority of the troops feeling fulfilled about the mission and that there was nothing much left to do that day again, their minds were fixed on returning safely and preparing for the next day. Unfortunately it wasn't to turn out so for them. Boko Haram fighters, tipped off with intel from a certain source, were aware that the Nigerian troops came to the Chibok town that day and were going to return back to their base that same night along the main route and so they had lied in wait for them in order to carry out an ambush on their convoy.
Not long after the convoy left Chibok, the insurgents struck, launching their preplanned ambush. Several Boko Haram fighters hiding on either side of the road opened fire on the troops with machine guns and several rounds of RPGs. They also had different groups that served as support and security units for the ambush. The support units, also stationed on different sides of the roads, aided in unleashing the attack on the convoy--the main assault units were in the centre of a kill zone area they'd marked out for the convoy on the road and were directly in contact with the trooops. The security units ensured that the ambushing fighters were not surprised by possible army reinforcements. The Boko Haram fighters waited until the convoy had entered the kill zone and then launched their assault.
The Nigerian Army troops immediately disembarked to return fire too and neutralise the effect of the assault. Several minutes passed in the catastrophic ambush though the soldiers were able to withstand the attack. However some of the soldiers were killed, and some were wounded before they eventually suppressed the attack and broke through.
The insurgents later on exfiltrated via planned routes--after they knew they'd accomplished significant percentage of success of their mission--while the convoy which had severely suffered injurious debilitation and attrition continued to head back to their base that evening. Unfortunately, Pius Andy was killed in ambush too. Heartbreakingly, he had been one who bore the brunt of the attack and stood ahead to return overwhelming fire on the terrorists.
After this, it was clear to the army that there were moles in or close to them who were tipping off Boko Haram fighters about their plans. They certainly knew the ambush carried out on the convoy and in other similar cases wasn't coincidence--the terrorists had been informed earlier. Now the DIA was alerted to dig deep into this. Ebuka Mike who worked at the forefront of the DIA at Abuja--who was now a Squadron Leader in the Air Force--resolved to personally investigate the matter and fish out the informants for the Boko Haram terrorists when he heard of the ambush.
Though Andy was dead, his death wasn't going to be taken lightly. In a bid to preserve majority of his precious team and their mission and in service unconditional to his country, he was the hero who neutralised the effect of that ambush of the dreadful terrorist group and turned the tide around . . . even though there were painfully other duties he hadn't still fulfilled like he would have wished.
Dafe, already a full Lieutenant, knew he had no choice. He was actually already getting used to hearing news of his fellow soldiers--his brothers-in-arms which he even knew--die painfully on the battlefront. But those were the past. He knew he was required to stand, hold the fort and continue from where they stopped so as to ensure their blood-laden efforts would not be in vain. That very afternoon in fact, he was going to be leaving for his special training with the newly-created Armed Forces Special Force which he belonged to--that had been arranged to take place in Russia and was going to span for a duration of at least six months. The Special Force had to be ordered and established to join the war in the north eastern theatre next in order to thrust decisive and accurate demolition on the Boko Haram nemesis that was ravaging the country. The alarming issue of the Chibok girls' abduction was still even at hand and the entire world was totally dumbfounded by it.
Dafe's beautiful wife, Rebecca, was among the Human Rights activists for ladies that were advocating and protesting for the release of the Chibok girls, demanding for the Government not to sit quiet about it but to take action immediately. Coming from a wealthy family that lived right there in Abuja, Rebecca, a South Western lady with Ajayi as their family name, had been opportuned in the past to witness how the poor families in the north lived and coped and how their children thrived amidst the scourging surge of poverty that was increasing in that area. And so, it was a huge burden and duty on her side to make sure those poor girls were defended and released. Her activeness in specific impacting programs was one of the things that intrigued Dafe about her and he loved her so dearly. She was an endearing brunette with tan skin, elegant, and was totalling about five feet eight while her energetic yet compassionate attitude was her noticeable trademark.
That very day, a massive campaign still began all across the world for the Chibok girls to be released. Tagged #BringBackOurGirls, the campaign trended for that entire period with over 100 million engagements and participations. Rebecca was at the helm of the campaign in her own sector and it kept on rising and gaining grounds with the participation of celebrities and world leaders in many countries.
The U.S First Lady--Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Gerald Butler, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, Simon Baker and many more were all among the celebrities who participated. And while the world was campaigning for the girls to be released and for terrorism to cease, the Nigerian military were planning secretly for the annilation of Boko Haram, reinforcing their elite forces with undaunting strength and prowess.
Dafe knew he was on a life mission to haunt the enemy that had touched him by taking those he loved. He would be ready for them by the time he was back.
He was coming to join the war.
Two days later
In the terrorists camp at Sambisa, Abubakar Shekau shot a video in which he addressed the international community including the Government of Nigeria who were campaigning for the release of the abducted Chibok girls. Filled with joy that the activities of his group and their name had caught global attention, his ego and megalomania certainly heightened. In the video he made it known that he would sell the girls as slaves and that Allah had commanded them to do so. Western Education was obviously forbidden to them--as their name implies--and so putting girls in schools more so was even a greater offence. He released the video to the global media and later on, he produced another one in which he'd forced some of the girls, about 50 of them, to wear hijabs and begin to recite sections from the Quran. Shekau's major goal was to use the girls as pawns with which detained members of his group would be released.
The lives of the girls had definitely metamophorsed into something very pathetic. This was worse than their worst nightmares. Dinah and the little group with her could only bond to help each other, encourage each other so they could overcome the despair they were facing together. Most were Christians. And so the pressures and dread the Islamic sect placed on them if they didn't convert to Islam was heart-rendering. They had to dramatize like they'd actually been converted to Islam--wearing the hijab, reciting the Quran--but actually, most of them were still in their own faith.
Life for the girls became literally hard as they were forced to adapt to the lifestyle of the Boko Haram members. Their daily routine was very strange and one of the first things the girls noticed was that the terrorists didn't use to live in houses but in tents and under the trees even though there were many generators in the camp. Their routine in their camp was to wake up, read the Quran, carry out training, plan attacks and then go for the deadly operations--most of which included laying mines and IEDs on the roads in the State leading to their enclave--especially those likely to be used by the Nigerian forces. They lived quite wealthy lives and surprisingly, somehow, were getting supplied with food and weapons constantly. They had herds of cattles and goats in the camp which they reared and could slaughter up to ten cows in a day.
The Sambisa Forest camp itself was divided into three zones, built in large circular fortification style. It included a guard zone, judgement zone and the HQ. The judgement zone was signified by flags mounted on trees while the HQ with high valued personnel was located at the centre and it had a big flag of their organization hoisted--a Black Standard. The major camp was the Camp Zero that had belonged to defunct Nigerian National Guard, built for trainings in the 1980s and was fortified with a huge two-level underground bunker. The camp had been abandoned in the forest for a while before the terrorists retreated to it as their HQ.
The terrorists' mantra in the day was a challenge of, "Bushra" and then a response of, " Lakum", while at night was, "Tarka", with a response of "Hazam." They didn't use to drink, smoke, wear watches or listen to music whereas they always listened to radios to be kept breast with information of things happening round the wold. Most of them were Kanuris--just as Shekau their leader was--with lesser Nigerians and Chadians among them. Most often, they robbed people to maintain their source of income while their main style of recruiting new fighters was to use force and threaten men and boys in close villages in order to join them.
The main tactics the terrorists adopted were those of guerilla warfare--just like their counterparts; AQIM in Algeria and Libya, al-Shabab in Somalia, ISIS, and more so, al-Qaeda in the Middle East. Guerilla warfare tactics basically resorted to avoidance of direct confrontation and conventional battles with an armed force whereas they relied on employment of ambush, use of IEDs for sabotage, causing of attrition, abduction, civilian attack and all manner of bombings. Whenever their enemy advanced, they retreated. Whenever the enemy camped, they had to harass. And whenever the enemy retreated, they had to pursue. But more so, they had to learn to be cruel and heartless in dealing with people especially their captives.
Feeling like they've journeyed into hell, those abducted girls managed to endure the maltreatment they were receiving from the terrorists at their camp while they waited for the longest time for a rescue operation to come . . . before they woul be sold as sex slaves.
The world and the Federal Government were only making frantic decisions and planning for the rescue of the girls as at the time. Owing to the fact that terrorism was globally condemned, the President was pressured by world leaders into not making any form of negotiations with the terrorists but instead to use military force to quell the situation. Whereas the military then had tensions escalating in them and were not yet fully ready to invade the Sambisa forest for a forceful rescue attempt--due to the fear of collateral damage. And so the case kept on dragging. By the next week on the 12th of May, 2014, the United States sent 16 of its military personnel as experts to assist in the search and rescue of the girls. There was significant progress made in the intel gotten about the abduction and whereabouts of the girls but soon, Shekau would begin selling some of the girls and distributing them to different places in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Even more so, the terrorist group kept on growing more fierce, brutal and lethal. For the rest of that year, they kept on gulping down and capturing most of the towns in Borno with their goal to establish a caliphate and they kept on carrying out bombings and large scale attacks on the civilian populace in the entire North Eastern theatre--Adamawa and Yobe included--which spanned till early 2015 even amidst the military's attempt to surpress their insurgency.
In the new year 2015, on January 3rd, the group launched one of their major deadliest assaults. It attacked the large town of Baga, close to the Lake Chad. Baga was the location of the military headquarters base of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which consisted of troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad--that had been combatting the insurgency earlier on. As the last major town in Northern Borno State still under the control of the Government and a key military base, Baga was very significant to Boko Haram.
The terrorists firstly attacked the MNJTF base from different flanks and then moved on to capture the town. Before they could be overwhelmed by the repelling military and civilian fighting forces, they regrouped in a larger style and then relaunched their attack on the remaining resistances. After overpowering and causing a severe destruction on the people there, they began burning hundreds of local buildings and houses with petrol bombs and explosives and then moved on to boldly attack and occupy surrounding towns and villages. In all, the attack lasted for four chaotic days and over 35,000 people were displaced with many who ended up drowning while trying to cross the Lake Chad. It was a dark week of anarchy for the town of Baga and the attack resulted into one of the greatest operations of the terrorists.
Over two thousand innocent civilians; boys, girls, women, were killed in the attacks. And survivors can still hear the wailing and crying of the poor victims as they were being burned and massacred by the deadly sect, Boko Haram.
You too could feel the intense pain. A very heavy-laden grief.
On a foggy Friday evening at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, two Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport planes belonging to the Nigerian Air Force landed on the airport's fore runway returning from the frigid Russia. Aboard the planes were about 200 freshly-trained troops of the Armed Forces Special Force. For over eight months, they'd been undergoing the elite, unrivalled and rigorous special training in that country that was meant to build them into a fully-packaged well-equipped and complete Special Force that they were required to be. Dafe was among them. This was something he'd always looked up to, and now was his chance.
It was a serene evening, filled with a cold harmattan, and the special forces were allowed to return home to spend time with their families for a period of one week--since they'd been gone for over eight months. By the next week, they were going to again be deployed to the war theatre at the North East in order to lead a decisive operation against the insurgents. The previous week, the President had postponed the nation's general elections that had been slated to hold on the 14th of February--and that was due to the escalating tensions and insurgency still in the north. So there was operational need to postpone the elections in order to massively tackle and surpress the insurgency before the masses would be sent out to vote.
Dafe returned home that evening, had a reunion with his wife, Rebecca, and other family members but by the next week, on the 20th, he was headed to Borno along with his new team to begin the main onslaught against the terrorists and they arrived safely. Dafe had been placed in the 133rd Battalion in the 707th Brigade that was now under the AFSF. In the 133rd Battalion, he belonged to "Delta" Company which consisted of about 150 soldiers and they were the ones that were deployed to majorly tackle the insurgency. These special forces were trained in special warfare, direct action and counterterrorism operations which included HVT missions, Search & Rescue, stealth missions, amphibious warfare, airborne assault, intelligence and special reconnaissance.
Due to his dexterity, skill and excellent leadership, Dafe, an Lt. was made in charge of his little squad in the Delta Company. Consisting of about seven soldiers, the squad with a Call sign, Delta 2, was one of the best and most proficient.
Dafe served as the squad leader, with an expertness in direct action and enemy engagement. Dafe's closest aide, Joshua, dubbed "Josh", from Calabar, was a Sub Lieutenant and was their intelligence expert and operator. Osaren was the sniper--dexterous, precise and very swift--also a Sub Lieutenant, referred to as "Gether". Hinbari, a northerner, was an astute machine gunner, a Staff Sergeant, and nicknamed "Storm". The man in charge of their reconnaissance was Dasuki, a Sergeant, who was also called "Razor" due to his expertness in martial arts and melee kills too. Machine operator was Abraham--"AB", also a Sergeant who specialised in handling special equipment such as drones, APCs and tanks when needed. Lastly, there was Arinze, a Corporal, nicknamed "Cobra", in charge of explosives and charges. Together, they were a complete versatile and lethal squad.
The Commander of the entire Delta Company was an easy-going yet very shrewd and decisive man whom they all knew as Captain Garrick and they had trained together. Along with other squad leaders, Dafe worked with Garrick and they were in charge of outlaying plans and strategies for entire Company. By the time the special Company got to the war theatre, the major objective ahead of them was recapturing all the towns which Boko Haram had taken--and a they had a short deadline. It was expected to happen before the 20th of March that same year, less than a month, just before the general elections would take place.
There were around 15 towns which the insurgents had captured. The tactic the special force was going to employ would be to capture the towns one by one--immediately advancing to the next town once they got the previous one down. It seemed herculean but with they were eventually able to accomplish it. In a space of two weeks and few days, they captured about fourteen towns back--very precisely and strategically. Standing at the forefront of the main army alongside some mercenaries from South Africa, the AFSF was the tip of the spear that bore the brunt of battle and recaptured their stolen world back. The effect of the Special Force in the army was massively felt and Dafe knew indeed that he'd joined the war. It was just as he promised.
All that remained ahead of them before the deadline now was the grueling task of the recapture of an enormous town called Bama.
In the 133rd Battalion's war room in their base at Maiduguri, several Company leaders met to plan their assault and conquest of Bama (a large town just 60km from Maiduguri, the State Capital). This was March 10 and they'd been given the directive from the Army high command--codenamed, "Star One"--to go ahead with the mission. The Battalion's commander, Colonel Bello along with Captain Garrick, Dafe, Air Force leaders and other commanders including the overall north eastern Theatre Commander drew up decisive plans together in order to achieve their objective.
The major operation would kick off on the 14th of the month but their plan was to begin the assault immediately with the Air Force launching airstrikes on the Boko Haram's enclaves in the town. Then two days before the D-day, artillery units in the army would begin launching long-range high explosive shells that could cover a wide area of about 100 metres in the town. They were certain these bombardments would take out most of the terrorists then ground troops--more than 500 of them--would then proceed in a arrow-head formation early on the D-day for full invasion, just to carry out the remaining mopping up activities led by the special forces accompanied by air support, while a support group attacked the town from its flank too.
The D-day came, March 14th, and just as they'd planned, all the units involved played their respective parts. The ground troops, starting as at early 6:00am, proceeded in a conventional two-column arrow-head formation as tanks served as the head because the roads to Bama were heavily laden with mines. A squadron of the NAF attack helicopters including the Soviet Mi-17 helicopter, Mi-24 Hind helicopters and Italian Augusta 109 power helicopters were employed in the air assault going ahead before the ground team for final aerial bombardment.
The T-72 Russian tanks leading the infantry assault belonged to the 272 Tank Battalion led by valiant commanders and operators--one of such was a young Maj. Abu Ali who was dubbed "Chief Warrior". This tank Battalion had led the earlier conquests of those fourteen towns and were depended on again for same gallantry in this invasion. The Delta group under Capt. Garrick and Dafe were required to be the strike force that would immediately infiltrate the town and spread out to many sectors once the tanks had led them in with the support of the regular infantry from behind.
Hours passed as the entire assault force inched their way closer to the town. The day was a hot and dry one but still the teams were resolved to capture the town and take down the terrorists that same day. Though quite frantic, they were very optimistic their plans were going to go as they'd drawn even though they were almost unaware of whatever really lied ahead of them.
The tanks got to the town at noon, rolling in through its famous crown-shaped gate. They were ready to immediately unleash hell on the Boko Haram elements they'd meet but they were literally taken aback with the solitude and desertion they unbelievably met in the town. Everywhere was totally empty and calm--though fires were raging in some parts due to the bombardments that had been done before. The soldiers were literally amazed and shocked at the solitude that was in front of them. It was almost just as they'd planned! Indeed the aerial and artillery bombardments must have taken out most of the terrorists and caused the rest to flee. And it seemed all that was just left for them now was to mop up the place, ensuring there were no terrorists left in it.
The ground teams were required to immediately spread out into their sectors for the mopping up and Dafe's squad, Delta 2, was the lead strike force for the central part of the town. The squad proceeded boldly and swiftly, most of them optimistic and gladdened that there were almost no terrrorists left again. Secretly however, the terrorists had lied in wait for the incoming soldiers and had planned a very huge ambush for them. There were scores of them waiting with RPGs, explosives, Antiaircraft guns and rocket launchers to massively destroy the soldiers. Deceptively, the terrorists had hidden in some basements in different parts of the towns and had waited quietly, feigning as though they'd deserted the city, so that the soldiers could advance optimistically but whereas be wasted in the deadly ambush.
Dafe's squad was there, just advancing confidently, totally unaware of the trap of the concealing terrorists--most of whom where clustered at the centre of the town--where his squad headed.
The deadly jihadists were about to launch just as the squad arrived. It was a big trap; the lives of Dafe and his men were unfortunately in great danger.
Episode Three coming out this Friday!
How do you think the soldiers' attack would go? Would Dafe and his squad be spared from the impending ambush? And how did the terrorists actually survive the earlier bombardments on their enclaves in Bama? Drop your comments below, stay tuned for the next episode and don't miss out!
On Friday, August 26th, 2011, a Honda vehicle broke into the UN headquarters building in Abuja, and exploded causing a devastating and regrettable bomb blast . . The major attack which the agencies had thought they'd foiled was accomplished just as Mike and Dafe had feared. The firsts of Boko Haram's major attacks had been struck successfully . . . their biggest attacks were still yet to come.
From nowhere, Dinah heard a loud bang that rattled her nerves. Soon, some men in army fatigues rushed into their dormitory and began waking up the girls. They began to immediately demand they leave their dormitories and go into their trucks . . . Hours later, many of the girls began discovering that the "soldier men" were in fact disguised Boko Haram terrorists. Despite the pounding fear in her heart all through that morning, Dinah resolved in her mind to escape from the terrorists . . . She eventually came out to the express route side . . . She knew she had made it. And now was her chance to get help and save her school mates from their abductors.
Unfortunately, just at that spot, two Boko Haram guards were standing too--right in front of her . . .
Dinah's heart melted with extreme fright as she saw them. What else could she do now? How could she still escape?
. . . . . . . .
Episode Two
Scorched Conquest
It was dawn, early on Tuesday morning, and birds were already chirping all around in the forest. It had seemed she'd escaped from them successfully, but Dinah eventually came back face to face from those she was escaping from. She stood quivering extremely with fright as her heart was petrified with fear. There they were, right in front of her.
"You want to escape?" One of the two guards asked her instantly.
Dinah was only shaking, literally speechless and going on her knees immediately to beg them. By now the tears were surging profusely from her eyes.
The guard went on to grab her. Furious at her decision to escape, he pushed her and then demanded she began to return back into the forest. Dinah had no choice, with the gun he was pointing behind her and his threat to rape her if she tried escaping again, she had to begin walking back, heading into the forest as he accompanied her. Her perfect plan to escape from the terrorists had failed just like that. She was going to live longer than she expected in the captivity now.
Soon, they got back into the terrorists' camp and Dinah was made to join a group of girls. Most of them were asked to stay under a particular tree there which they called, 'the Tree of Life', and Dinah could see the girls there were all pleading, crying, and praying that a means of rescue would come their way one way or the another. The terrorists were just literally cruel and devilish. It was clear that they hadn't planned to abduct the girls initially. They were only on a mission to steal ammunition equipments from the town. But when they discovered that the school was filled--and with female students--they resorted to an hostage mission--hopeful that Shekau, their leader, would be highly interested in such. The terrorists went ahead to divide the girls to be put into their different camps in Madayi, Dogon, Chuku and Meri villages all in same Borno State.
That morning, news reached the entire world about the kidnapping of the 276 Chibok female students from their school the previous night by Boko Haram. Governmental authorities in the Country including the military high command had tensions rocking in them as grieving parents got to learn about the abduction of their children and demanded action. International bodies got in touch with the Government almost immediately too with concern and showing interests to help search for and rescue the abducted Chibok girls. The Royal Air Force of UK launched an Operation Turus to help find the girls as soon as possible.
In the Nigerian military high command though, the tensions began increasing. How could such large scale offensive have been carried out by Boko Haram with no opposition from the military troops and securities stationed close to that area? Not long afterwards, it was learned that the Army Battalion stationed close to Chibok had received intel a few hours before from neighbouring residents about an impending attack by a large number of Boko Haram troops on Chibok town. But the Battalion couldn't instantly provide reinforcements because troops and resources had been over-extended. A few detachment of soldiers were already stationed at the conventionally peaceful Chibok and so by the time the terrorists arrived, about 100 of them, the dozen or so soldiers at Chibok held them off for up to an hour before being outgunned with no reinforcements arriving for them.
At the end, the reason boiled down to the corruption and complacency of key leaders among the Nigerian authorities including the military for failing to provide needed support, resources and avenues for the willing troops ready to annihilate the Boko Haram group effectively and entirely. The first and major thing the Army was required to do now was to carry out a Search & Rescue operation for the girls before things could escalate. Though this was a hostage situation now, it required careful planning, patience and tactics to be involved so that it wouldn't result in a case of death of the girls. In the meantime, plans for this would be carried out.
* * * * *
One week later.
A platoon of soldiers in the 7th Division positioned at the Damboa military base were about to embark on a mission to also join in the search for and rescue of the abducted Chibok girls that had been captured recently and Lt. Andy was among them. He had to in fact.
Andy was infuriated and saddened. He couldn't still comprehend how Dinah, his younger sister, with the other 270+ girls were abducted by the evil terrorist sect which he loathed so much. Some hours before the group struck, he'd actually spoken with Dinah on phone through one of her teacher's line. And she was fine, determined to study for her upcoming exam. But it was so surprising she wasn't available again--he'd received the news that she was among the abductees. Now that he's heard she'd been captured too, he was ready to unleash all his fury on the cruel sect now. That mission they were about to launch would give him the opportunity. He'd join in smoking out the terrorists, rescuing the girls and then eventually taking out the Islamists. That was his prime duty. And he knew he owed it to Dinah, most especially. The mission had been ordered by the Army HQ with supports from other arms including the Defence Intelligence--the DIA.
The time was 2:00pm and the troops headed for the mission in their convoy of four trucks. By the time they reached their area of operation (AO) around the Chibok town, they began conducting patrols basically then collecting information from the residents about the operations of the terrorists--with where exactly the girls were taken to. After spending a considerable number of time in that AO with Intel about and certain materials of the terrorist group collected, they completed their mission for the day and then began to head back to their base. By now it was evening, the time was around 9:00pm.
The army convoy travelled through the major route leading back to Damboa. With majority of the troops feeling fulfilled about the mission and that there was nothing much left to do that day again, their minds were fixed on returning safely and preparing for the next day. Unfortunately it wasn't to turn out so for them. Boko Haram fighters, tipped off with intel from a certain source, were aware that the Nigerian troops came to the Chibok town that day and were going to return back to their base that same night along the main route and so they had lied in wait for them in order to carry out an ambush on their convoy.
Not long after the convoy left Chibok, the insurgents struck, launching their preplanned ambush. Several Boko Haram fighters hiding on either side of the road opened fire on the troops with machine guns and several rounds of RPGs. They also had different groups that served as support and security units for the ambush. The support units, also stationed on different sides of the roads, aided in unleashing the attack on the convoy--the main assault units were in the centre of a kill zone area they'd marked out for the convoy on the road and were directly in contact with the trooops. The security units ensured that the ambushing fighters were not surprised by possible army reinforcements. The Boko Haram fighters waited until the convoy had entered the kill zone and then launched their assault.
The Nigerian Army troops immediately disembarked to return fire too and neutralise the effect of the assault. Several minutes passed in the catastrophic ambush though the soldiers were able to withstand the attack. However some of the soldiers were killed, and some were wounded before they eventually suppressed the attack and broke through.
The insurgents later on exfiltrated via planned routes--after they knew they'd accomplished significant percentage of success of their mission--while the convoy which had severely suffered injurious debilitation and attrition continued to head back to their base that evening. Unfortunately, Pius Andy was killed in ambush too. Heartbreakingly, he had been one who bore the brunt of the attack and stood ahead to return overwhelming fire on the terrorists.
After this, it was clear to the army that there were moles in or close to them who were tipping off Boko Haram fighters about their plans. They certainly knew the ambush carried out on the convoy and in other similar cases wasn't coincidence--the terrorists had been informed earlier. Now the DIA was alerted to dig deep into this. Ebuka Mike who worked at the forefront of the DIA at Abuja--who was now a Squadron Leader in the Air Force--resolved to personally investigate the matter and fish out the informants for the Boko Haram terrorists when he heard of the ambush.
Though Andy was dead, his death wasn't going to be taken lightly. In a bid to preserve majority of his precious team and their mission and in service unconditional to his country, he was the hero who neutralised the effect of that ambush of the dreadful terrorist group and turned the tide around . . . even though there were painfully other duties he hadn't still fulfilled like he would have wished.
* * * * *
Early in the morning on May 3rd, 2014, Dafe received the news of the death of his best friend, Andy, in the militant's ambush carried out on their convoy. Dafe had been at home with his wife at Abuja early that morning when a close friend to Andy also in the 25th Task Force Brigade at Borno called him and told him how Andy had died nearly two weeks ago which was why he hadn't been in touch again for a while.
The news of Andy's death literally pierced Dafe's heart and a heavy weight of grief pervaded him immediately. Andy had really been more than a brother to Dafe and along with Samuel Fola, they'd enjoyed the best parts of their lives then at the NDA. It took the effort of his new wife, Rebecca, whom he'd married earlier that year, to pacify him, make him encouraged and feel better wth the grief subsided.Dafe, already a full Lieutenant, knew he had no choice. He was actually already getting used to hearing news of his fellow soldiers--his brothers-in-arms which he even knew--die painfully on the battlefront. But those were the past. He knew he was required to stand, hold the fort and continue from where they stopped so as to ensure their blood-laden efforts would not be in vain. That very afternoon in fact, he was going to be leaving for his special training with the newly-created Armed Forces Special Force which he belonged to--that had been arranged to take place in Russia and was going to span for a duration of at least six months. The Special Force had to be ordered and established to join the war in the north eastern theatre next in order to thrust decisive and accurate demolition on the Boko Haram nemesis that was ravaging the country. The alarming issue of the Chibok girls' abduction was still even at hand and the entire world was totally dumbfounded by it.
Dafe's beautiful wife, Rebecca, was among the Human Rights activists for ladies that were advocating and protesting for the release of the Chibok girls, demanding for the Government not to sit quiet about it but to take action immediately. Coming from a wealthy family that lived right there in Abuja, Rebecca, a South Western lady with Ajayi as their family name, had been opportuned in the past to witness how the poor families in the north lived and coped and how their children thrived amidst the scourging surge of poverty that was increasing in that area. And so, it was a huge burden and duty on her side to make sure those poor girls were defended and released. Her activeness in specific impacting programs was one of the things that intrigued Dafe about her and he loved her so dearly. She was an endearing brunette with tan skin, elegant, and was totalling about five feet eight while her energetic yet compassionate attitude was her noticeable trademark.
That very day, a massive campaign still began all across the world for the Chibok girls to be released. Tagged #BringBackOurGirls, the campaign trended for that entire period with over 100 million engagements and participations. Rebecca was at the helm of the campaign in her own sector and it kept on rising and gaining grounds with the participation of celebrities and world leaders in many countries.
The U.S First Lady--Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Gerald Butler, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, Simon Baker and many more were all among the celebrities who participated. And while the world was campaigning for the girls to be released and for terrorism to cease, the Nigerian military were planning secretly for the annilation of Boko Haram, reinforcing their elite forces with undaunting strength and prowess.
Dafe knew he was on a life mission to haunt the enemy that had touched him by taking those he loved. He would be ready for them by the time he was back.
He was coming to join the war.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Two days later
In the terrorists camp at Sambisa, Abubakar Shekau shot a video in which he addressed the international community including the Government of Nigeria who were campaigning for the release of the abducted Chibok girls. Filled with joy that the activities of his group and their name had caught global attention, his ego and megalomania certainly heightened. In the video he made it known that he would sell the girls as slaves and that Allah had commanded them to do so. Western Education was obviously forbidden to them--as their name implies--and so putting girls in schools more so was even a greater offence. He released the video to the global media and later on, he produced another one in which he'd forced some of the girls, about 50 of them, to wear hijabs and begin to recite sections from the Quran. Shekau's major goal was to use the girls as pawns with which detained members of his group would be released.
The lives of the girls had definitely metamophorsed into something very pathetic. This was worse than their worst nightmares. Dinah and the little group with her could only bond to help each other, encourage each other so they could overcome the despair they were facing together. Most were Christians. And so the pressures and dread the Islamic sect placed on them if they didn't convert to Islam was heart-rendering. They had to dramatize like they'd actually been converted to Islam--wearing the hijab, reciting the Quran--but actually, most of them were still in their own faith.
Life for the girls became literally hard as they were forced to adapt to the lifestyle of the Boko Haram members. Their daily routine was very strange and one of the first things the girls noticed was that the terrorists didn't use to live in houses but in tents and under the trees even though there were many generators in the camp. Their routine in their camp was to wake up, read the Quran, carry out training, plan attacks and then go for the deadly operations--most of which included laying mines and IEDs on the roads in the State leading to their enclave--especially those likely to be used by the Nigerian forces. They lived quite wealthy lives and surprisingly, somehow, were getting supplied with food and weapons constantly. They had herds of cattles and goats in the camp which they reared and could slaughter up to ten cows in a day.
The Sambisa Forest camp itself was divided into three zones, built in large circular fortification style. It included a guard zone, judgement zone and the HQ. The judgement zone was signified by flags mounted on trees while the HQ with high valued personnel was located at the centre and it had a big flag of their organization hoisted--a Black Standard. The major camp was the Camp Zero that had belonged to defunct Nigerian National Guard, built for trainings in the 1980s and was fortified with a huge two-level underground bunker. The camp had been abandoned in the forest for a while before the terrorists retreated to it as their HQ.
The terrorists' mantra in the day was a challenge of, "Bushra" and then a response of, " Lakum", while at night was, "Tarka", with a response of "Hazam." They didn't use to drink, smoke, wear watches or listen to music whereas they always listened to radios to be kept breast with information of things happening round the wold. Most of them were Kanuris--just as Shekau their leader was--with lesser Nigerians and Chadians among them. Most often, they robbed people to maintain their source of income while their main style of recruiting new fighters was to use force and threaten men and boys in close villages in order to join them.
The main tactics the terrorists adopted were those of guerilla warfare--just like their counterparts; AQIM in Algeria and Libya, al-Shabab in Somalia, ISIS, and more so, al-Qaeda in the Middle East. Guerilla warfare tactics basically resorted to avoidance of direct confrontation and conventional battles with an armed force whereas they relied on employment of ambush, use of IEDs for sabotage, causing of attrition, abduction, civilian attack and all manner of bombings. Whenever their enemy advanced, they retreated. Whenever the enemy camped, they had to harass. And whenever the enemy retreated, they had to pursue. But more so, they had to learn to be cruel and heartless in dealing with people especially their captives.
Feeling like they've journeyed into hell, those abducted girls managed to endure the maltreatment they were receiving from the terrorists at their camp while they waited for the longest time for a rescue operation to come . . . before they woul be sold as sex slaves.
The world and the Federal Government were only making frantic decisions and planning for the rescue of the girls as at the time. Owing to the fact that terrorism was globally condemned, the President was pressured by world leaders into not making any form of negotiations with the terrorists but instead to use military force to quell the situation. Whereas the military then had tensions escalating in them and were not yet fully ready to invade the Sambisa forest for a forceful rescue attempt--due to the fear of collateral damage. And so the case kept on dragging. By the next week on the 12th of May, 2014, the United States sent 16 of its military personnel as experts to assist in the search and rescue of the girls. There was significant progress made in the intel gotten about the abduction and whereabouts of the girls but soon, Shekau would begin selling some of the girls and distributing them to different places in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Even more so, the terrorist group kept on growing more fierce, brutal and lethal. For the rest of that year, they kept on gulping down and capturing most of the towns in Borno with their goal to establish a caliphate and they kept on carrying out bombings and large scale attacks on the civilian populace in the entire North Eastern theatre--Adamawa and Yobe included--which spanned till early 2015 even amidst the military's attempt to surpress their insurgency.
In the new year 2015, on January 3rd, the group launched one of their major deadliest assaults. It attacked the large town of Baga, close to the Lake Chad. Baga was the location of the military headquarters base of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which consisted of troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad--that had been combatting the insurgency earlier on. As the last major town in Northern Borno State still under the control of the Government and a key military base, Baga was very significant to Boko Haram.
The terrorists firstly attacked the MNJTF base from different flanks and then moved on to capture the town. Before they could be overwhelmed by the repelling military and civilian fighting forces, they regrouped in a larger style and then relaunched their attack on the remaining resistances. After overpowering and causing a severe destruction on the people there, they began burning hundreds of local buildings and houses with petrol bombs and explosives and then moved on to boldly attack and occupy surrounding towns and villages. In all, the attack lasted for four chaotic days and over 35,000 people were displaced with many who ended up drowning while trying to cross the Lake Chad. It was a dark week of anarchy for the town of Baga and the attack resulted into one of the greatest operations of the terrorists.
Over two thousand innocent civilians; boys, girls, women, were killed in the attacks. And survivors can still hear the wailing and crying of the poor victims as they were being burned and massacred by the deadly sect, Boko Haram.
You too could feel the intense pain. A very heavy-laden grief.
* * * * *
February 13th, 2015On a foggy Friday evening at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, two Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport planes belonging to the Nigerian Air Force landed on the airport's fore runway returning from the frigid Russia. Aboard the planes were about 200 freshly-trained troops of the Armed Forces Special Force. For over eight months, they'd been undergoing the elite, unrivalled and rigorous special training in that country that was meant to build them into a fully-packaged well-equipped and complete Special Force that they were required to be. Dafe was among them. This was something he'd always looked up to, and now was his chance.
It was a serene evening, filled with a cold harmattan, and the special forces were allowed to return home to spend time with their families for a period of one week--since they'd been gone for over eight months. By the next week, they were going to again be deployed to the war theatre at the North East in order to lead a decisive operation against the insurgents. The previous week, the President had postponed the nation's general elections that had been slated to hold on the 14th of February--and that was due to the escalating tensions and insurgency still in the north. So there was operational need to postpone the elections in order to massively tackle and surpress the insurgency before the masses would be sent out to vote.
Dafe returned home that evening, had a reunion with his wife, Rebecca, and other family members but by the next week, on the 20th, he was headed to Borno along with his new team to begin the main onslaught against the terrorists and they arrived safely. Dafe had been placed in the 133rd Battalion in the 707th Brigade that was now under the AFSF. In the 133rd Battalion, he belonged to "Delta" Company which consisted of about 150 soldiers and they were the ones that were deployed to majorly tackle the insurgency. These special forces were trained in special warfare, direct action and counterterrorism operations which included HVT missions, Search & Rescue, stealth missions, amphibious warfare, airborne assault, intelligence and special reconnaissance.
Due to his dexterity, skill and excellent leadership, Dafe, an Lt. was made in charge of his little squad in the Delta Company. Consisting of about seven soldiers, the squad with a Call sign, Delta 2, was one of the best and most proficient.
Dafe served as the squad leader, with an expertness in direct action and enemy engagement. Dafe's closest aide, Joshua, dubbed "Josh", from Calabar, was a Sub Lieutenant and was their intelligence expert and operator. Osaren was the sniper--dexterous, precise and very swift--also a Sub Lieutenant, referred to as "Gether". Hinbari, a northerner, was an astute machine gunner, a Staff Sergeant, and nicknamed "Storm". The man in charge of their reconnaissance was Dasuki, a Sergeant, who was also called "Razor" due to his expertness in martial arts and melee kills too. Machine operator was Abraham--"AB", also a Sergeant who specialised in handling special equipment such as drones, APCs and tanks when needed. Lastly, there was Arinze, a Corporal, nicknamed "Cobra", in charge of explosives and charges. Together, they were a complete versatile and lethal squad.
The Commander of the entire Delta Company was an easy-going yet very shrewd and decisive man whom they all knew as Captain Garrick and they had trained together. Along with other squad leaders, Dafe worked with Garrick and they were in charge of outlaying plans and strategies for entire Company. By the time the special Company got to the war theatre, the major objective ahead of them was recapturing all the towns which Boko Haram had taken--and a they had a short deadline. It was expected to happen before the 20th of March that same year, less than a month, just before the general elections would take place.
There were around 15 towns which the insurgents had captured. The tactic the special force was going to employ would be to capture the towns one by one--immediately advancing to the next town once they got the previous one down. It seemed herculean but with they were eventually able to accomplish it. In a space of two weeks and few days, they captured about fourteen towns back--very precisely and strategically. Standing at the forefront of the main army alongside some mercenaries from South Africa, the AFSF was the tip of the spear that bore the brunt of battle and recaptured their stolen world back. The effect of the Special Force in the army was massively felt and Dafe knew indeed that he'd joined the war. It was just as he promised.
All that remained ahead of them before the deadline now was the grueling task of the recapture of an enormous town called Bama.
. . . . . . . . . . .
In the 133rd Battalion's war room in their base at Maiduguri, several Company leaders met to plan their assault and conquest of Bama (a large town just 60km from Maiduguri, the State Capital). This was March 10 and they'd been given the directive from the Army high command--codenamed, "Star One"--to go ahead with the mission. The Battalion's commander, Colonel Bello along with Captain Garrick, Dafe, Air Force leaders and other commanders including the overall north eastern Theatre Commander drew up decisive plans together in order to achieve their objective.
The major operation would kick off on the 14th of the month but their plan was to begin the assault immediately with the Air Force launching airstrikes on the Boko Haram's enclaves in the town. Then two days before the D-day, artillery units in the army would begin launching long-range high explosive shells that could cover a wide area of about 100 metres in the town. They were certain these bombardments would take out most of the terrorists then ground troops--more than 500 of them--would then proceed in a arrow-head formation early on the D-day for full invasion, just to carry out the remaining mopping up activities led by the special forces accompanied by air support, while a support group attacked the town from its flank too.
The D-day came, March 14th, and just as they'd planned, all the units involved played their respective parts. The ground troops, starting as at early 6:00am, proceeded in a conventional two-column arrow-head formation as tanks served as the head because the roads to Bama were heavily laden with mines. A squadron of the NAF attack helicopters including the Soviet Mi-17 helicopter, Mi-24 Hind helicopters and Italian Augusta 109 power helicopters were employed in the air assault going ahead before the ground team for final aerial bombardment.
The T-72 Russian tanks leading the infantry assault belonged to the 272 Tank Battalion led by valiant commanders and operators--one of such was a young Maj. Abu Ali who was dubbed "Chief Warrior". This tank Battalion had led the earlier conquests of those fourteen towns and were depended on again for same gallantry in this invasion. The Delta group under Capt. Garrick and Dafe were required to be the strike force that would immediately infiltrate the town and spread out to many sectors once the tanks had led them in with the support of the regular infantry from behind.
Hours passed as the entire assault force inched their way closer to the town. The day was a hot and dry one but still the teams were resolved to capture the town and take down the terrorists that same day. Though quite frantic, they were very optimistic their plans were going to go as they'd drawn even though they were almost unaware of whatever really lied ahead of them.
The tanks got to the town at noon, rolling in through its famous crown-shaped gate. They were ready to immediately unleash hell on the Boko Haram elements they'd meet but they were literally taken aback with the solitude and desertion they unbelievably met in the town. Everywhere was totally empty and calm--though fires were raging in some parts due to the bombardments that had been done before. The soldiers were literally amazed and shocked at the solitude that was in front of them. It was almost just as they'd planned! Indeed the aerial and artillery bombardments must have taken out most of the terrorists and caused the rest to flee. And it seemed all that was just left for them now was to mop up the place, ensuring there were no terrorists left in it.
The ground teams were required to immediately spread out into their sectors for the mopping up and Dafe's squad, Delta 2, was the lead strike force for the central part of the town. The squad proceeded boldly and swiftly, most of them optimistic and gladdened that there were almost no terrrorists left again. Secretly however, the terrorists had lied in wait for the incoming soldiers and had planned a very huge ambush for them. There were scores of them waiting with RPGs, explosives, Antiaircraft guns and rocket launchers to massively destroy the soldiers. Deceptively, the terrorists had hidden in some basements in different parts of the towns and had waited quietly, feigning as though they'd deserted the city, so that the soldiers could advance optimistically but whereas be wasted in the deadly ambush.
Dafe's squad was there, just advancing confidently, totally unaware of the trap of the concealing terrorists--most of whom where clustered at the centre of the town--where his squad headed.
The deadly jihadists were about to launch just as the squad arrived. It was a big trap; the lives of Dafe and his men were unfortunately in great danger.
* * * * *
"If your attack is going too well, you're walking right into an ambush" -- Infantry Journal
Episode Three coming out this Friday!
How do you think the soldiers' attack would go? Would Dafe and his squad be spared from the impending ambush? And how did the terrorists actually survive the earlier bombardments on their enclaves in Bama? Drop your comments below, stay tuned for the next episode and don't miss out!
If that rat leaking mission tactics isn't found, Dafe will be killed faster than he thought
ReplyDeleteLol...true
DeleteDafe and his squad should be smarter. Military operations hardly ever go as planned.
ReplyDeleteYou have a point.. But can u ever prepare for an ambush?
Delete