Inside Boko Haram’s ‘Camp Zero’

More details have surfaced regarding the
taking of Boko Haram’s ‘Camp Zero’. A top
military source that was part of the troops that
stormed Sambisa Forest, has revealed to Daily
Trust that Nigerian troops, in company of
Cameroonian counterparts, took position for
about a week in readiness. “We were told to
pin down, meaning to remain where we were.
We were seeing our target, which was Camp
Zero, but had to wait for orders to attack,” he
said.
The source also said the only source of water
for the insurgents living at Camp Zero was a
nearby irrigation plant at Alapo. “Within the
seven days we pinned down, whenever we go
to Alapo to fetch water, we had on several
occasions clashed with insurgents coming
from Camp Zero, also to fetch water.
Whenever that happens, we exchange fire and
on several occasions we killed a good number
of them,” he said.
According to the source, after the seven days
elapsed, the troops were ordered to retreat for
another seven days, before the final attack,
described widely as a success. He said:
“Unfortunately, I believe, within the two weeks
delay, that was when [Boko Haram leader]
Shekau and his other commanders must have
escaped. But military operations are
complicated, and not waiting might have given
rise to other problems. I am aware that there
was intelligence that was corroborated with
photos from a drone that indicated the
presence of Shekau at Camp Zero at the time
we were pinned down. The insurgents had all
fled before we got there, and we only met
some elderly people, children and a few AK47
rifles, with some small arms they left behind.”
The source said they found some Armored
Personnel Careers (APCs), as well as other
operational vehicles that the insurgents could
not flee with. “However, the insurgents set
them on fire before we got there,” he added.
There were many Boko Haram flags flying
when troops stormed Camp Zero, all bearing
the terrorists’ insignia, according to another
highly-placed military source. There were
clothes, pots, massive cauldrons and some
food items scattered around the area,
suggesting hasty departure. Also, there were a
number of ‘satellite’, smaller settlements - or
outposts - of the insurgents where troops
found motorcycles and more household items
like fridges, generators and mattresses.
Also seen around the general area, were
unmarked graves, most likely of individuals
and not that of mass burials. Inside the main
building were rooms and larger hall-like ones
which had Arabic inscriptions scrawled
crudely in red or black paint. Daily Trust’s
source also said there were indications that
several trucks were parked at Camp Zero
before troops got there.
Another top military source that was privy to
the planning and execution of the attack on
Sambisa Forest said the target was Camp
Zero, where Shekau was said to be hiding.
“We have not been able to cover the entire
forest, as everyone now knows it is very
wide,” he said.
Led by Colonel AG Laka, and supported by
Major Manga, troops took off from Awulari
where they had earlier converged. Both
officers, and the work they have been doing in
the North-East, are well-known to both troops
and the local populace.
More widely-known, Camp Zero was the
stronghold of sorts of the Shekau faction of
Boko Haram, while a lesser-known but
strategic ‘Camp Abuja’ is the headquarters of
the Al-Barnawi arm of the terrorist sect led by
their own leader Mamman Nur, was not
attacked.
“Camp Abuja is also in Sambisa Forest, not
too far from Kumshe, and near Banki, around
the Nigeria/Cameroun border. I don’t know
why it hasn’t been sacked yet,” the source
said.
One of our sources said while the victory at
Camp Zero is indeed impressive, it could have
been better. “The way we stormed the place,
and took it, was so smooth that it seems like
a movie. I am hoping and praying for the best,
but I hope this is truly the end of Boko
Haram,” he said.
Efforts by this reporter to visit Camp Zero
through a cashew plantation from Giwa
Barracks axis was frustrated when some
fleeing villagers revealed that the former base
of the insurgents remains totally deserted,
four days after it was attacked. The locals
warned that insurgents could be lurking
around, holed-up in some villages around the
area.
Another operational source also gave details
of a fierce fight that lasted days. “By the time
we were ready to charge into the camp, they
had set it on fire and fled. We found a
wounded sect member strapped to an IED,
and we stayed away cautiously. He cursed at
us, eventually detonating it and killing
himself,” the source said.
Being the stronghold of Boko Haram,
especially Shekau, questions about Chibok
girls were asked. The source said both the
leader of the terrorists and the kidnapped
schoolgirls were nowhere to be found. “I don’t
think Shekau is with the [Chibok] girls, as he’s
on the run. They most likely are with some of
his top commanders,” he said.
Most of the people who spoke to Daily Trust
on the Camp Zero operation feel caution
needs to be applied, as Shekau is still at large.
A senior academician in Borno State who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said he
watched the 11-minute video released by
Shekau on Sunday, December 25, where he
vowed to fight back and noticed that the
heavy artillery behind the leader of the
insurgents.
Military authorities, however, immediately shot
back, saying the video is propaganda that
should be disregarded.
Also, military officials gave more details about
the Camp Zero operation. Theatre Commander
of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-Gen. Lucky
Irabor, said sect leader Shekau’s Qur’an and
flag were recovered. “We believe that the Holy
Book and the flag were abandoned by him as
he escaped,” he said. “We’ve also made a lot
of arrests,” he added.
Maj-Gen. Irabor added that troops arrested
about 1,240 suspected terrorists during a
mop-up operation by troops inside the forest.
“We are still on the trail of the terrorists and I
want to assure you that all escape routes
have been blocked. Within this period, also,
about 30 fleeing suspected Boko Haram
members have surrendered to the Niger
Multinational Troops on the shores of the lake
Chad and we learnt that they were taken to
Diffa in Niger Republic.”
Maj-Gen. Irabor noted that the Sambisa
Forest-based camp was abandoned without
any government presence, which made it easy
for the insurgents to take advantage of the
area.
Camp Zero was initially meant to be used as a
training facility for the now-defunct National
Guard, which was set up when General
Ibrahim Babangida was in power.
Maj-Gen. Irabor added that the army would
construct roads into the forest, and called on
the government and other individuals to
support its endeavour. “Let me state that we
have won the war by destroying terrorists’
fortress, but we are now in a transition phase.
We need to win the peace now.”
Boko Haram has killed over 15,000 people and
displaced over two million during a seven-year
insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state
in Nigeria.


Source: Daily Trust