Babangida tells Buhari to adopt unconventional military methods in the war against Boko Haram

FORMER military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida has urged the federal government to use psychological and unconventional methods in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast of the country as classic military methods will not work.

Since 2009, Boko Haram have been waging a war of terror against the Nigerian state in the hope of establishing a purist sharia caliphate in the north of the country. Of late, the Nigerian military has succeeded in reducing the terrorist sect's capability but despite this, Boko Haram still remains strong in the northeast.

Although Boko Haram no longer controls large swathes of territory like it used to, the sect still has the capacity to conduct raids and abduct large numbers of people. Despite claims by the Nigerian military that the sect is finished as a military force, now and again, it shows its might by conducting guerrilla raids, indicating that the conventional military tactics used against it are not effective.

Speaking yesterday on Channels Television, General Babangida told the Buhari administration to also use psychological and unconventional methods in fighting Boko Haram. He pointed out that it would be a mistake to use regular war tactics against the insurgents.

General Babangida said: “What we tend to forget is that the insurgents have also got tacticians or people who think for them and once they do that, then you have a problem. You have to find a way of countering that information they dish out.”

Furthermore, General Babangida added that the government should embark on sensitisation campaigns in a bid to dish out a lot of not so good information about the terrorists. He added that this will give at the populace the confidence that no matter what happens, the military is there to protect them.