Sources said that the vacuum created by the absence of Niger had resulted in the escalation of attacks on the fringes of the Lake Chad and the flow of a huge cache of arms and fighters from the North Africa-based ISIS into the region.

Some locations across the region, especially within the axis of Gaidam in Yobe State, Mallam Fatori and Damasak in the fringe of Lake Chad, are witnessing a sustained and steady infiltration of foreign fighters.

According to our sources in the Gaidam community, Niger removed troops they had stationed at the Gaidam-Niger border leading to the increase in the terrorist attacks.

‘’Indeed, we heard that Niger’s troops are not on the Niger-Nigeria’s border which is a setback in the fight against Boko Haram.

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‘’The soldiers stationed in the Diffah-Maini strip have been removed and relocated to other areas in their country, so from what we heard is that these guys (terrorists) are using the space (border) to attack the defenceless citizens’’ one of the sources said.

He observed that the troops were not doing enough to end the insurgency. ‘’What we observed is that the commitment of the military personnel is very poor; they are there doing nothing to curtail the attacks.”

‘’They need to re-strategize their work. You cannot be in the town collecting N50 or N100 from traders who are coming to Gaidam for the weekly market while people are being killed daily’’ he added.

Another source said, Boko Haram attacks and activities in Gaidam LGA of Yobe state had increased recently when compared to the last two years or more.

Within the last two weeks, 42 persons have been killed, including Usman Gombe, a customs officer, who was shot dead.

Residents of the LGA said the activities of Boko Haram insurgents on the outskirts of Gaidam had increased in recent days, with the terrorists’ collecting taxes from farmers and herdsmen.

The sources told Daily Trust on Sunday that the lack of patrol by the security personnel had given a chance to the terrorists to attack the armless communities.

Our reporter learnt that the security personnel are only safeguarding the Gaidam metropolis from internal and external terrorist attacks to avoid casualties.

‘’It is obvious that lack of patrol by the military personnel to the eastern part of Gaidam is one of the reasons why Boko Haram increased their attacks.

‘’If the security agencies would increase their patrol along the Yobe-Borno states’ border, the terrorists would be afraid to enforce tax on the ordinary villagers or even launch any attacks.

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‘’Just in the last two weeks, the military killed 3 Boko Haram terrorists who they (soldiers) met during their patrol. Therefore, if the soldiers would keep doing things like this, the terrorists would be afraid to come out, let alone attacking people’’ he said.

When contacted to explain why Niger withdrew its soldiers from the borders, the MNJTF commander’s spokesman, Lt Col A.A., simply told one of our correspondents: “I don’t know. You can ask the Nigerien Defence Headquarters.”

He, however, added: “Niger is still part of MNJTF.”

Renewed attacks may hamper IDP resettlement efforts

Between 2015 and 2023, the MNJTF has conducted several operations, including reclaiming territories hitherto under the control of Boko Haram and resettling internally displaced persons back to their ancestral homes.

These included Operation Gama Aiki, conducted in 2016, operation Rawan Kada in 2017, Operation Amni Fakat in 2018, Operation Yancin Tafki from January 2019-March 2021, operating along the Monguno-Baga-Lake Chad Islands axis, Operation sharan Fage in December 2021 and operation lake sanity in March 2022.

With the efforts of the MNJTF and other security agencies, the Borno State Government had, in January 2021, begun the resettlement of internally displaced persons back to their communities.

In the first phase of the resettlement programme, the government announced that over 11,000 households, consisting of about 100,000 people had been resettled in 20 communities across 13 local government areas of the state.

The areas include Damasak, Banki, Kauwuri, Ajiri, New Marte, Baga, Ngoshe, Kirawa, Kukawa, Mairari and Mallam Fatori, located on the shores of Lake Chad.

Nigeria’s border with Niger stretches 1,608 kilometres (999 miles) in length covering seven states in the northern part of Nigeria, including Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa,Yobe and Borno States.

Sector 4 of the MNJTF, which is the area of responsibility (AOR), covers the extreme southeastern part of Niger Republic along the Koumadougou-Yobe Road where some of the resettled villages are located.

The effort by the MNJTF, particularly Sector 4 (Niger), led to the resettlement of thousands of IDPs, but with the withdrawal of Nigerien troops from their area of responsibilities, residents feared that the gains recorded in the fight against terrorism in their communities might be reversed.