In a move that would make even the most jaded historian sit up, the Nigerian military has liberated hundreds of captives from a Boko Haram stronghold in the Sambisa Forest. This is not a small skirmish; this is a raid that echoes the audacity of Victorian colonial campaigns, but with a modern twist: the villains are not foreign conquerors but homegrown savages. The operation, which targeted the notorious Mandara Mountains hideout, freed 286 souls, many of whom had been languishing in conditions that would make a Dickensian workhouse seem like a spa resort.
Let us pause and consider the sheer futility of Boko Haram's ideology. These captives were not soldiers or politicians; they were farmers, traders, children. Their crime: being alive in a region where a twisted interpretation of faith justifies mass abduction and slavery. The liberation is a testament to the persistence of Nigerian forces, but it also underscores a grim reality: this is the same Boko Haram that has been kidnapping schoolgirls, burning villages, and turning the Lake Chad region into a charnel house for over a decade. That it took this long to mount such an operation reveals the profound decay of state capacity in the face of organised barbarism.
We cannot ignore the historical parallels. The Sambisa Forest has become a modern-day version of the Tauric Chersonese, a place where captives were held by Scythian raiders. But here, the ancient Greeks at least had myths to explain their suffering. We have satellite imagery, human rights reports, and a UN that issues statements while doing little else. The operation itself, dubbed 'Desert Sanity' by the military, is a welcome dose of vigour. Yet, one wonders: how many more such hideouts exist? How many captives remain in the hands of these fanatics, their lives reduced to a waiting game for a rescue that may never come?
This is not just a Nigerian problem; it is a global failure of will. The West, with its obsession over 'root causes' and 'socioeconomic factors', has been asleep at the wheel. Boko Haram is not a social movement; it is a death cult. Treating it as anything else is intellectual cowardice of the first order. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government must be held to account. This success is laudable, but it cannot paper over the years of neglect, corruption, and incompetence that allowed Boko Haram to metastasise into a regional menace.
The freed captives now face the long road to recovery. They will need psychological support, economic reintegration, and a state that can guarantee their safety. History warns us that such operations, if not followed by sustained governance, become hollow gestures. The Roman Empire knew this: after breaking a siege, you must build a fortress. Nigeria must build not only fortresses but schools, roads, and a justice system that makes such abductions unthinkable.
So, let us salute the bravery of the soldiers who stormed the mountain. But let us also demand more: a total war against this plague, not a sporadic hunt. The alternative is the slow slide into the abyss, where abductions become routine and rescue becomes a headline, not a deliverance.
