Leadership
By Tarkaa David
The Nigerian Army has said Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) have resorted to releasing video propaganda falsely portraying lavish lifestyles in their enclaves to recruit new fighters.
The director, army public relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement yesterday, said the move was because of the obvious reality of defeat and inability to carry out attacks that had hitherto been the strategy to assert relevance in the eyes of the public.
He said this was as a result of the sustained and well-coordinated military bombardments from both land and air components of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) which had exerted so much pressure on the terrorists and their sympathizers whose only available weapon now is cheap and uncoordinated propaganda.
He noted that a good number of the terrorists had surrendered to troops in different locations across the theatre, a trend that indicated that they are losing the capacity to remain in the fight.
“Apparently, there are indications that their fighting capability has been severely encumbered by devastating depletion, with their remnants deserting various enclaves, leaving behind a few diehards that will undoubtedly be eliminated by the highly spirited troops of OPHK in no distant future,” he said.
He said in a bid to replenish their fast depleting fighting force and clandestinely conscript unsuspecting individuals to join their fold, BHT embarked on a subtle recruitment drive using the said propaganda video to portray a lavish lifestyle in their so-called fortress, a psychological strategy desperately deployed to attract impressionable youths and unsuspecting individuals.
He said a cursory look at the video however revealed an amateur work of doctored old clips and images from different backgrounds, skewed with blurred imageries that are incoherent and illogical.
He said; “The incontrovertible reality is that the group is facing imminent destruction and extinction.
“Contrary to the false impression they attempt to project of a blissful life in their enclaves, the true situation in their evil enclave is one of hunger, disease, brutality, high level of immorality and the constant fear of military offensives.”
He said such condition was largely responsible for the terrorists turning in their arms in droves as the gallant troops of OPHK are rendering their enclaves uninhabitable with fierce offensives.
“What the terrorists did not tell their target audience is that their fighters and family members are currently surrendering to the troops in multitudes, laying down their arms and renouncing their membership of the evil organisation and that they were misled in joining in the first place.
He said the Nigerian Army being a professional force, adheres to extant laws and international best practices, particularly the provisions that relate to a situation when an adversary surrenders.
He urged individuals or groups who have fallen to the antics of BHTs’ clandestine recruitment drive projected through the propaganda video to surrender themselves and their weapons to the nearest military or security forces outfit or risk testing the might of the ongoing counter insurgency operations.
