In a major tactical shift aimed at crushing insurgent strongholds across the Lake Chad Basin, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede, has announced the deployment of newly trained Nigerian Navy Special Forces, code-named the Marines, to the North-East operational theatre.
​Addressing defense correspondents on Wednesday morning at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, General Oluyede disclosed that the elite operational unit, nicknamed the “Bushmen,” consists of 328 personnel who recently completed an intensive six-month advanced amphibious and counter-terrorism training program conducted with support from United States Special Forces instructors.
​Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, confirmed that the specialized amphibious troops have been integrated into the ongoing Operation Hadin Kai.
Their primary mandate centers on conducting deep-reconnaissance patrols, riverine assaults, and targeted raids to dismantle Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram hideouts across the waterways of Baga and the wider Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
​Military strategists project that inserting specialised naval commandos into the riverine corridors will cut off critical insurgent supply lines, dismantle illegal taxation networks along the water channels, and enhance operational synergy among the ground troops of the Nigerian Army and air assets of the Nigerian Air Force.
​Stressing the imperative of civil-military cooperation, General Oluyede called on citizens to assist security forces with timely intelligence to ensure the long-term success of the campaign.
​”What we require from Nigerians is their support and prayers,” General Oluyede stated during the briefing. “If, for any reason, they notice anything suspicious, they should report it to us because everything we do relies on intelligence. We need community support and the support of all Nigerians to move the country forward.”
​The operational push comes in the wake of renewed joint offensives by units of the Naval Base Lake Chad, which recently neutralized several insurgent combatants and reclaimed vital waterways previously exploited by terror networks.
