Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, has called on President Bola Tinubu to extend ongoing United States–Nigeria counterterrorism airstrikes to Nigeria’s North-east, citing the region as the main base of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The senator said the North-east hosts key insurgent strongholds that require urgent and sustained military action, including targeted aerial bombardments. He identified Lake Chad, the Mandara Mountains and the Sambisa Forest as major insurgent enclaves controlled by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Mr Ndume welcomed the recent collaboration between Nigeria and the United States in counterterrorism operations but stressed that the effort should not be limited to parts of the North-west.
“We welcome this cooperation between Nigeria and the United States in targeting terrorist hideouts,” he said. “However, I am calling on them to extend it to the North-east, where ISWAP and Boko Haram have their three known black spots: Lake Chad, Mandara Mountain and Sambisa.”
The North-east comprises Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.
His call follows the joint US–Nigeria airstrikes carried out on Christmas Day in Tangaza and Tambuwal local government areas of Sokoto State. The operation targeted locations believed to be hideouts of Islamic State-linked militants near the Nigeria–Niger border.
The strikes were reportedly executed through intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Nigerian military. US officials said multiple ISIS fighters were killed during the operation, which was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, later confirmed that President Tinubu approved the strikes and that Nigerian intelligence played a key role in their success.
Beyond airstrikes, Mr Ndume urged the federal government to deepen military cooperation with the United States through expanded intelligence sharing, logistics support, advanced training for ground troops and the deployment of attack helicopters to assist operations on the ground.
“I also want to suggest that the military cooperation with the United States should extend to training, intelligence and logistics for ground troops, backed by attack helicopter support,” he said.
Reacting to a recent suicide bombing at a mosque in Gamboru, Maiduguri, which killed five people, the senator expressed sympathy for the victims and their families. He said the attack showed that terrorists are indifferent to religion.
“The incident in the mosque in Gamboru is a clear indication that terrorists do not care about religion,” he said. “All the victims were Muslims, which shows that the narrative of religious targeting does not hold. These terrorists are simply making life unbearable for our people.”
