From Sambisa to Burra Forest, time to act is now

While the military is fast degrading and decimating the onslaught of Boko Haram insurgency in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, the monster is shifting its base from Sambisa Forest in Borno state to Burra forest in Ningi Emirate Council of Bauchi state.
Burra forest is linked through a corridor to Falgore forest in Kano state to Saminaka in Kaduna state. It is a very large forest, extending to three states and it is from the forest that the terrorists now go to other places to unleash terror on the people.
In their new found land, the terrorists kidnap people daily and receive between three and five million naira as ransom.
These facts were revealed by Senator Isa Hamma Misau of Bauchi Central Senatorial zone in an exclusive interview with the Daily Trust recently.
According to the Senator, the terrorists told their victims that they were relocating from Sambisa forest, the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgents.
“It was because of their activities that a new police division was opened in Burra. But the police cannot carry out operation in the forest because it is a high risk operation.”
Misau added the terrorist collected so much money from the people, but because the place is in remote area, there activities were yet to be given national prominence.
The senator gave indication that he would sponsor a motion when the Senate resumes next month to, among others, draw the attention of the security agencies.
He explained that the terrorists were highly sophisticated and that to tackle them, there was need for serious surveillance, intelligence and equipment. Reacting to the situation, the Defence Headquarters spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar confirmed that the insurgents were relocating to other forests and hide outs in the country as a result of ceaseless onslaught. He made it clear that the terrorists will have no hiding place as they would be pursued anywhere they go.
No doubt, the news of the relocation of the terrorists from Sambisa forest to Burra forest is, to say the least, a bad omen, especially to the people of northeast, who have started having respite following the successes being recorded by the military.
It is however cheerful to observe that the military has put in steps to deal decisively with the terrorists in Burra forest.
Indeed, let it be a decisive and prompt response to forestall the relentless surge of these war mongers and agents of division on the people of northeast. Let it not be a repeat of the sad show of Sambisa forest when the terrorists moved with ease into the forest, in the face of the “siddon look” posture of the then administration.
Eye witnesses had provided credible local reports, more than three years ago, that lorry loads of iron rods, cement, woods and all sorts of building materials and heavy building machines had been driven into the forests with no one challenging them.
Writing on the subject, “Dislocating the Boko Haram from Sambisa forest,” an observer notes, “unfortunately they were allowed to occupy the forest for a long time, which provided them the opportunity to study and master the entire terrain, such that they easily transverse with ease the link between Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad Republics.”
Today, Sambisa is a killer or evil forest, a riddle Nigerian military is now striving to unmask. Let Burra forest not reecho the sad story of Sambisa forest. Unless and only if the Sambisa forest and the adjoining forests are effectively recovered from the occupation of the terrorists, shall we think of defeating the Boko Haram and then begin to embark on a holistic approach for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the northeast.
This is imperative bearing in mind, for example, that before now, at several stages, the Borno state government had intervened to reconstruct destroyed schools, health centres, homes, markets and others, only for the insurgents to attack and destroy them again.