The Christmas Day airstrike on Islamic State (IS) in Northern Nigeria by the U.S has sparked reactions among security experts, with some saying it’s long overdue.
A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Mike Ejiofor, saw the strike as a positive development that will send signals to the terrorists that it’s no longer a tea party. Speaking in an interview, Ejiofor believes that the U.S, with that action, might be trying to explore to see how they will carry out the bigger strikes.
That, he said, has left the terrorists with only one option, to surrender and lay down their arms or be flushed out. Also, Compol Eric Austin Obi (Rtd), who is now a security and management consultant, called the strike the devils alternative.
Obi further stated in an interview that the intention of the action was to weaken the insurgency, insisting it was the hard way, but the only way.
However, Ejiofor, who said Nigerians have suffered enough, added: “My first reaction was that it is a positive development. “The last time President Donald Trump made a statement regarding taking action against the terrorists, I said he should not be taken for granted.
“But, I also mentioned that Nigeria is a sovereign state that cannot be controlled by another country because that would be infringing upon our sovereignty. “So, based on that, I think the Federal Government sent a delegation where modalities were worked out for collaboration.
“And as we speak, the Federal Government has issued a statement that they are working in collaboration with the U.S. government with regards to the strike.
“Yes, I think it’s a positive development. But we are expected to see more of these strikes. ”I was just reading on X (twitter) that one of the leaders of the terrorist group was killed in the strike. But we are yet to get details.”
Ejiofor also believes that the terrorists, being human beings, will be trying to reorganise. “But as they are reorganising, they also get monitored. So, I think with this collaboration, they will make major success in the fight. “And it’s long overdue. We have suffered enough, Nigerians have suffered enough.
“But, we know that Nigerians will react differently to it; some people will not support it. “They, the terrorist sympathisers, will not be happy with this action of the U.S.
But, the most important thing is that most Nigerians will be happy with this operation. “The intelligence we have is not the intelligence they have. And the Nigerian intelligence community is also giving them intelligence.”
Obi, who called the strike a gunboat diplomacy, believes that the action has humbled the terrorists as “our bandits and insurgents backed by non-state actors, are now begging to negotiate.”
He added: “It is a game over as it is the devil’s alternative. Either way people must die. “But insurgency must be weakened or eliminated. That’s the hard way, the only way.”
