Retired Military Officer Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu recently commented on the shift in Boko Haram's tactics, suggesting that their resort to suicide bombing in Borno indicates a diminished capability to execute the larger-scale attacks seen between 2013 and 2017. He elaborated on this shift in an interview with Arise TV, providing insights into the group's changing methods.
Captain Shehu emphasized that suicide bombing was not historically Boko Haram's primary method of attack. This change, he argued, reflects the group's reduced operational strength and serves as an indicator that efforts to combat them are proving effective.
He pointed out that it has been a significant period since the last recorded suicide bombing in the North East, specifically noting that the last incident occurred in 2019. This gap of about five and a half years suggests a notable decline in such attacks, providing some reassurance about the progress being made against the terrorist group. He stressed that this shift away from large-scale operations to suicide bombings indicates their inability to carry out the kind of extensive attacks they once did.
According to him, ''It's been a long while that we heard of suicide bombing in the North East. From my records, the last time that we had a suicide bombing in the North East was in 2019. So we have had about 5½ years that we have not heard of suicide bombing."
Watch the video here starting from 01:45