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Thread: Nigeria 2013-2017

  1. #221
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Advisers on display

    The next two Vice film clips are now available. The second is not great and in places one did wonder what the Nigerian Army was doing (from my amateur armchair):https://news.vice.com/video/the-war-...o-haram-part-2

    The third clip shows the Nigerian Army on the offensive, to retake a town Bama maybe fourteen miles beyond Magiduri. Some softening up by 155mm artillery, the use of a small armoured team (T62 & BMP) and helicopter support, including Mi8 HInd gunships. Bizarrely the reporter refers to reports of Chadian help and foriegn advisers, then says it is an all-Nigerian victory:https://news.vice.com/video/the-war-...o-haram-part-3

    There is a very short clip (starts at 10:46) which suggests the advisers were far more important, as they had wheeled APCs - which the Nigerian Army unit did not have and if you stop the film at 11:01 you see a parade with at least eight white advisers and two or three at the front conducting the parade.
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  2. #222
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Dad's Army in Nigeria: South Africa's aging mercenaries

    A round up in The Guardian on those black and white South Africans, who fought thirty years ago in their 'small wars', notably in SW Africa (now Namibia) and today "advising" in Nigeria:
    Who are the members of this dad’s army, willing to risk death abroad and prosecution at home to fight someone else’s war? What is their motivation? And are they welcomed by those they are ostensibly helping?
    Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-on-boko-haram

    Their activity is not popular back home, indeed the government says they will be prosecuterd - even if "advising" the Nigerian state.

    Helmoed Heitman a veteran South African journalist on military matters sums them up best:
    They have no problem working with black guys and don’t have a racial hangup. Most people in Africa have long since realised this. What they look for is someone with real shooting experience. The old SANDF are not always liked, necessarily, but they are highly regarded.
    As I posted in the current Nigeria thread you can spot them sometimes, in Post 213:
    There is a very short clip (starts at 10:46) which suggests the advisers were far more important, as they had wheeled APCs - which the Nigerian Army unit did not have and if you stop the film at 11:01 you see a parade with at least eight white advisers and two or three at the front conducting the parade.
    Link:https://news.vice.com/video/the-war-...o-haram-part-3

    In a Post 204:A South African report on the convoluted context for
    Beeld newspaper had reported that former SADF soldiers would form the core of a multinational team of private military experts, who were then en route to Nigeria, to help the NDF fight against Boko Haram militants. The 100-strong team had been tasked with training the Nigerian military to launch a massive campaign against the terrorist organisation.

    They have been in country for a significant time already, involved in training some specialised NDF units. As per normal they are now deployed in an advisory capacity at the front. This includes being deployed with the NDF special forces, artillery, armour and infantry units on the ground. ‘Most of the gunships [Mi 24 Hinds] are being piloted by former SAAF members and they are flying a huge number of sorties, including nocturnal operations, with great success. There is also close involvement at HQ level, assisting in the planning of operations and the coordination / interpretation of the intelligence effort.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 01-16-2018 at 07:38 PM. Reason: 26,493v when a stand alone thread
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  3. #223
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    Default

    Sounds more effective than a Hashtag campaign.
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
    Drops to a ten-rupee jezail


    http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg

  4. #224
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default

    Cameroon, Nigeria's eastern neighbour rarely features in external reporting, partly as its president has been in power since 1982, so hat tip to WoTR for a review:http://warontherocks.com/2015/04/fig.../?singlepage=1

    Cameroon the author says has similar features to Nigeria (its far richer n'bor), in particular between the Christian south and the poorer Muslim north.
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  5. #225
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    Default Behind name changes is what?

    A short BBC Africa report, with the headline: 'Islamic State strengthens ties with Boko Haram':http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32435614

    Name changes then.
    Boko Haram is a nickname, given to it by Nigerians when it was formed in 2002...its official name Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

    Islamic State's West Africa Province (Iswap)
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  6. #226
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    Default Eeben's approach: relentless pursuit

    Nearly missed this, note a secondary report:
    ...last week, Col Barlow discussed his company's role in a seminar at the Royal Danish Defence College, and in a separate interview with a Sofrep.com, a special forces website, he described in detail the "aggressive" strike force that was created to push Boko Haram onto the back foot. “The campaign gathered good momentum and wrested much of the initiative from the enemy...It was not uncommon for the strike force to be met by thousands of cheering locals once the enemy had been driven from an area. Yes, many of us are no longer 20-year-olds. But with our age has come a knowledge of conflicts and wars in Africa that our younger generation employees have yet to learn, and a steady hand when things get rough.”
    Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...oko-Haram.html
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  7. #227
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    Amazed at how a journo can lift an article off one website, credit someone a co-founder of EO (who wasn't), add in his own imagination and interpretation of the situation, credit us (STTEP) with so much, add several years to my age - and get paid for it.
    Poor research and an apparent lack of professional integrity ought to have no place in the media.

  8. #228
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Echo Bravo View Post
    Amazed at how a journo can lift an article off one website, credit someone a co-founder of EO (who wasn't), add in his own imagination and interpretation of the situation, credit us (STTEP) with so much, add several years to my age - and get paid for it.
    Poor research and an apparent lack of professional integrity ought to have no place in the media.
    Thank you Echo Bravo for that pithy assessment.

    SOFREP have a five-part series on Eeben Barlow's work in Nigeria. Part 1:http://sofrep.com/40608/eeben-barlow...oko-haram-pt1/
    Part 2:http://sofrep.com/40623/eeben-barlow...-strike-force/
    Part 3:http://sofrep.com/40633/eeben-barlow...#ixzz3a1yhh2z8

    He describes 'relentless pursuit' as:
    Barlow’s key points to utilizing relentless pursuit include:
    • Troops eating while on the move
    • Combat tracking the enemy at a high rate of speed
    • Having the ability to leap-frog ahead of the enemy via helicopter
    • Utilizing communications
    • Emphasizing aggression
    • Maintaining proficiency in night operations
    • Outgunning the enemy

    Part 4:http://sofrep.com/40675/eeben-barlow...ial-narrative/
    Part 5:http://sofrep.com/40700/eeben-barlow...-nigerias-war/
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  9. #229
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    Ironically the journo mentions us ageing white mercenaries despite the "palefaces" being heavily outnumbered by our black colleagues. And then he wrote his piece as if he had actually had an interview with me - which he hadn't.

  10. #230
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default It's hard to give up a brother

    Lindsey Hilsum, UK C4's chief international reporter, has been in Northern Cameroon, where Nigerian activity appears to be pushing Boko Haram across the international border - which straddles the local tribe, numbers of whom are with Boko Haram.

    There is a six minute fim clip:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKSWiKzC4P0

    Her written report:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ith-boko-haram
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  11. #231
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    Default Nigeria’s Critical Juncture: Boko Haram, Buhari, and the Future of the Fourth Republi

    Nigeria’s Critical Juncture: Boko Haram, Buhari, and the Future of the Fourth Republic

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  12. #232
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Both sides adjust: the effect?

    A short update in The Economist:
    Yet in recent weeks the group has struck back from its remote redoubts, killing more than 200 people in the week to July 5th (and more since then) in a series of attacks across the north. Bombs were detonated in the major cities of Jos and Kano, neither of which had been attacked since February.
    This is not a surprise, given there is new President, but maybe unwise hence my emphasis:
    Nigeria’s army, by contrast, is finding counter-insurgency far more difficult than merely liberating captured towns. It has also lost much of the support that contributed to its victories earlier this year. Mercenaries who helped turn the tide in the north-east have been sent home and Chadian soldiers have pulled back over the border.
    Link:http://www.economist.com/news/middle...war-bombs-are?
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  13. #233
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    Hi,

    It's been a long time.

    Boko Haram has come to stay, so the Nigerian State have to find a way to adjust to that reality.

    The Nigerian State with an incompetent police, no biometric ID system, 10 million out of school kids and porous borders cannot solve this problem without fundamental changes & these changes will be very risky politically.

    In addition to Boko Haram, there's a silent crisis in the Middle Belt (farmers vs herdsmen), separatist rumblings in the South East & of course, the Niger Delta.

    Oil prices have dropped - & Iran looms over the horizon.

    There is consumer inflation, purchasing power is steadily dropping. No economic policy direction.

    There will be very difficult years ahead - and let nobody make you believe Boko Haram will be the only challenge or even the major challenge.

  14. #234
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Hurrah

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    Hi,

    It's been a long time.
    Kingjaja,

    Indeed welcome back, it is good to have a local posting, truly "on the ground".
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  15. #235
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    A special article in the FT on Nigeria, which for once makes little mention of Boko Haram and has some intriguing passages. For once a bit of optimism:http://app.ft.com/cms/57d0408c-30b2-...3-775ba7c2ea3d

    Stuck for time read the last two paragraphs.
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  16. #236
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    Default Boko Haram: A Growing Threat in West Africa

    Boko Haram: A Growing Threat in West Africa

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  17. #237
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    Default Exploring Networks Competing for Influence: Kano State, Nigeria

    Exploring Networks Competing for Influence: Kano State, Nigeria

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  18. #238
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    Default Nigeria has "technically won the war"

    A BBC report on Xmas Eve:
    Nigeria has "technically won the war" against Islamist Boko Haram militants, President Muhammadu Buhari says.
    He told the BBC that the militant group could no longer mount "conventional attacks" against security forces or population centres. It had been reduced to fighting with improvised explosives devices (IED) and remained a force only in its heartland of Borno state, he said.
    Link:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35173618

    There's nothing like being an optimist.
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  19. #239
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    Default Justifying Jihad: A Case Study of Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram

    Justifying Jihad: A Case Study of Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram

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  20. #240
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    Default Boko Haram Far More Brutal Than ISIS

    Based on the number of people that have been killed and the circumstances surrounding their deaths, one can easily conclude that Boko Haram is a far more brutal and ruthless terror organization than ISIS.

    Don't believe me? SEE THIS

    These are just few of the reported ones that happened this January. There are still countless unreported cases where Boko haram hit communities and wipe out every human being in them.

    The bad thing is that the western press have shown very little concern when it comes to reporting their nefarious activities. Also the various governments of Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad are busy suppressing the statistics so as to hide their incompetence.

    God save us
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 02-04-2016 at 10:01 AM. Reason: Was a stand alone thread (0.8k views) adnd now merged into main thread.
    THE SUMMARY - Nigeria News Website

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