The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says assessment of the recent joint United States–Nigeria military strikes is still in progress and will be made public when completed.
Recall that the United States announced that American forces carried out lethal airstrikes against ISIS terrorists in north–western Nigeria.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Michael Onoja, major general and director defence media operations, said that the military is currently engaged in a detailed battle damage verification exercise.
“On the United States strikes in conjunction with Nigerian forces, there is a process of battle damage assessment,” he said.
“We are still in that process, and I can assure you that once that is completed, we will communicate to the public all our observations.
“In due course, we will give you all the information that you require from the US–Nigeria strikes.”
Responding to whether terrorists were genuinely present at the targeted locations, Onoja insisted that intelligence confirmed their movement and activities in the affected areas before the strikes.
“You know, terrorists are ubiquitous, and we cannot confine them to one location,” he said.
“Of course, there is evidence to show that they are in the Sahel.
“So we can also take it further since the proximity of the Sahel to Sokoto, intelligence reports have confirmed their presence there before those strikes were conducted against them.
“So yes, they were there because those strikes were based on intelligence reports.
“They have confirmed their presence in those areas. The fact that it was not publicised is sometimes for operational security reasons.”
He explained that troops are tracking terrorist movements beyond the initial strike zones while coordinating with field commanders to block infiltration into civilian communities.
According to him, security agencies are also engaging residents to provide timely intelligence support.
“We are monitoring them, and we are doing the necessary things, communicating with all the force commanders in the areas that we have identified as threat areas, so that they will prevent them from assimilating into the community and causing further havoc,” he said.
“And as time goes on, you will hear about all the activities that we are doing, it’s important that while we are acting, we keep it confidential.
“With time, I will call you here and brief you about all the things that we are doing.
“Also, we are mobilising the civilian population so that they will be vigilant and give information to the military and other security agencies, so that any issue of insecurity or any movement of these terrorists can be acted on quickly.
“The truth is that security or insecurity can only be addressed through the cooperation of every member of society. It’s called the whole-of-society approach.
He also appealed to individuals who may have collected weapon fragments or ammunition from the operation scene to hand them over to security authorities.