The Defence Headquarters has said that the battle damage assessment of recent United States airstrikes conducted in conjunction with Nigerian forces is still ongoing.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing journalists in Abuja. He assured the public that the assessment findings would be released upon completion.
Responding to questions on the effectiveness of the strikes, Onoja said, “On the United States strikes in conjunction with Nigerian forces, there is a process of battle damage assessment. 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.”
The clarification follows public debate on whether the strikes achieved their intended objectives.
On the presence of terrorists at the bombed locations, Onoja confirmed that intelligence reports had established their presence in the region prior to the operation.
“They have confirmed their presence in those areas. The fact that it was not publicised is sometimes for operational security reasons,” he said.
He linked the terrorists’ movement to the proximity of Sokoto to the Sahel region and affirmed that the strikes were intelligence-led.
Onoja noted that the military is closely monitoring terrorist movements and working with local commanders to prevent further infiltration into communities.
“We are monitoring them, and we are doing the necessary things, communicating with all the force commanders… so that they will prevent them from assimilating into the community and causing further havoc,” he said.
He also urged the civilian population to support security agencies with information, describing the approach as a “whole-of-society” strategy.
“The truth is that security or insecurity can only be addressed through the cooperation of every member of society,” he added.
Addressing public criticism of the joint operation, Onoja said the Armed Forces would not respond to every opinion expressed in the media.
“It is not for the Armed Forces to focus on what some people in society do not agree with in our activities. Ours is to focus on our kinetic operations,” he stated.
He also urged members of the public in possession of ammunition fragments or materials from the site of the operation to return them to security agencies.
“We don’t expect anybody to take away those materials… they should return them to the military or security divisions so that we can disarm those things before they cause greater damage,” Onoja warned.
He assured Nigerians that the military remains committed to continuing operations against terrorist groups into the new year.