AFP, Lagos
Boko Haram’s seizure of a key town and military base in Nigeria’s far northeast has tightened its grip on the region, undermining efforts to tackle the insurgency, experts said on Tuesday.
The capture of Baga and the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) now means the Islamists control all three of Borno state’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Analysts said that as a result, the militants were in a better position to launch fresh attacks both within Nigeria, including against the key city of Maiduguri, and across borders.
“The capture of Baga is of enormous significance,” Abdullahi Bawa Wase, a Nigerian security analyst who tracks the Boko Haram conflict, told AFP.
“It has put a lie to the Nigerian government claim that it is on top of the situation. It is a serious symptom of defeat on the side of the government.”
Boko Haram’s seizure of a key town and military base in Nigeria’s far northeast has tightened its grip on the region, undermining efforts to tackle the insurgency, experts said on Tuesday.
The capture of Baga and the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) now means the Islamists control all three of Borno state’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Analysts said that as a result, the militants were in a better position to launch fresh attacks both within Nigeria, including against the key city of Maiduguri, and across borders.
“The capture of Baga is of enormous significance,” Abdullahi Bawa Wase, a Nigerian security analyst who tracks the Boko Haram conflict, told AFP.
“It has put a lie to the Nigerian government claim that it is on top of the situation. It is a serious symptom of defeat on the side of the government.”
