No leave, no surrender

Abubakar Shekau

Boko Haram threatens Biya, promise darker days ahead
- Undaunted, President Biya appeals for international support
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde
However impressive, skillful and fruits-bearing the reprisals of Cameroonian defence forces have so far been in the ongoing war against the Boko Haram insurgents in the Far North of Cameroon, the jihadists still appear to be undaunted. And there are no indications the hostilities would end any time soon.
    Even the commander-in-chief of the Cameroon armed forces, President Paul Barthelemy Biya Bi Mvondo does see things differently; he also foresees a long-drawn war with the terrorist insurgents.
    Addressing the diplomatic corps as he received New Year wishes from them on Thursday, 8 January 2015 at the Unity Palace in Yaounde, President Biya expressed fears of an ever resurgent Boko Haram.
    He said in spite of impressive reprisals by Cameroonian defence forces, that have always pushed back and chases Boko Haram attackers to their Nigerian hide-outs, and despite killing thousands of the jihadists in the process, there are no indications Boko Haram is learning its lesson.

    “Although weakened by the losses it has suffered in the hands of our defence forces, Boko Haram nonetheless remains capable of bouncing back. Their raids in Northern Mali and repeated attacks launched against our territory are telling of this,” Mr. Biya observed, calling for the global community to mobilize forces as the only sure means of overcoming Boko Haram.
    “I still believe that the threat posed by Boko Haram and the Shebabs may be defeated only through global mobilization,” Mr. Biya suggested.
    The president however, used the occasion to appreciate those countries that have stood by Cameroon during this trying moments of the war on Boko Haram. He cited notably USA, UK, China, Russia, Germany and France.
    According to some analysts President Biya’s appeal for international mobilization could just mean the war on Boko Haram is becoming more complicated and cumbersome for Cameroon’s defence forces fighting all alone.
    And this may just be true especially when one imagines that the war on Boko Haram is a complicated war against a faceless adversary. So far the only Boko Haram militant that has shown his face to the public is the self-proclaimed leader of the terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau.
    To the reputed French weekly magazine, Jeune Afrique, Boko Haram is an omnipresent, illegitimate (un conflit batard) aggression that has confined itself along the extreme northern frontiers between Cameroon and Nigeria.
    Official figures put the number of Cameroonian soldiers who have disappeared in the course of the war at about 40. The number of civilians is even more. Boko Haram for its part has suffered losses to the tune of several thousand men, apart from heavy material losses.
    Though the jihadists keep changing their tactics intermittently from asymmetric to conventional warfare, one feature characterized their attacks: surprise, sporadic raids and ferocious barbarity. And they careless about their targets, be them civilian or military.
    Speaking in his year-end address to the nation on 31 December 2014 President Biya expressed the hope that Boko Haram would learn its lesson giving the successes registered by the no-nonsense Cameroonian armed forces. Intriguingly, President Biya expressed the hope barely days after Boko Haram renewed its intimidation and threats. And this time the threats were directed at the president himself.
    In a video message posted on you tube, on 5 January 2015 the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, wielding Kalashnikovs in both hands and shooting intermittently in the air, fired a warning at the Cameroon president and his forces. He promised more barbaric attacks in Cameroon in the near future. Abubakar Shekau vowed that Boko Haram shall never accept to be defeated in a war that according to him was provoked by President Biya.
    Though Yaounde authorities are yet to react to the recent intimidation by Boko Haram, a Cameroonian soldier said the outing by Abubakar Shekau was just a distraction and intended to boost the morale of his militants who are falling in their thousands on the battle field. He said the threats are an acknowledgment by Abubakar Shekau that the resistance of the Cameroonian forces is quite formidable.
    The soldier promised that Cameroonian forces will not go to sleep, despite the evident loss of confidence and energy by Boko Haram.
    “We will not relent on our operations. We will not even wait for them to attack us before riposting; we will dig them out from their holes and deal with them accordingly,” said the galant soldier, who re-echoed President Biya’s earlier remark that: “We defeated the maquisards; we survived the ghost towns and won the war at Bakassi. It is not Boko Haram that can be more than us.”