A high-ranking former military commander has offered a striking assessment of Nigeria's counter-terrorism campaign, stating that sustained air and ground operations are breaking the will of insurgent groups and forcing them to plead for negotiations.
Major General Anthony Atolagbe (retd.), who previously commanded Operation Safe Haven, made the assertion during a recent interview, providing an insider's perspective on the shifting dynamics of the conflict. He directly attributed a recent call for dialogue by a notorious Zamfara bandit leader to the overwhelming pressure exerted by the Nigerian military.
A Turning Tide: From Defiance to Pleas
"The terrorists are begging for peace because the bombings are getting too much," Atolagbe stated, characterizing the current militant posture as one of desperation. He explained that persistent aerial bombardments and ground assaults have severely degraded the operational capacity of groups, making their traditional forest hideouts increasingly untenable.
This analysis frames recent high-profile attacks, such as the mosque bombing in Borno and school abductions, not as a sign of insurgent strength, but as the "dying kicks of a desperate adversary." Atolagbe pointed to broader casualty data, suggesting that despite these tragic incidents, the overall trend of violence is on a downward trajectory due to the military's intensified campaign.
The Critical Need to "Saturate the Frontline"
Looking ahead, the retired General outlined what he sees as the crucial next phase: consolidation. He warned that military gains are fragile without a permanent security presence to hold liberated territories. His prescription is a "massive increase in personnel," advocating for the recruitment of significantly more troops and specialized forest guards.
The goal, he emphasized, is to "saturate the frontline" with enough manpower to prevent terrorists from re-infiltrating cleared areas, thereby transforming tactical victories into lasting peace. This call highlights a central challenge in asymmetric warfare—the transition from clearing operations to stable governance and security.
Atolagbe's commentary presents an optimistic, albeit hard-nosed, military view of the conflict. It suggests that a strategy of relentless kinetic pressure is yielding psychological and operational results, forcing enemies to the negotiating table from a position of weakness, but that ultimate success hinges on the government's ability to deploy a much larger and permanent security footprint across the troubled region.
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