Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai
It was a moment of redemption and glory for Nigerian soldiers and residents of Gamboru village on Wednesday when the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, supervised the hoisting of the Nigeria Flag in the reclaimed town of Gamboru in Ngala local government area of Borno State.
Gamboru, a town now total state of ruin, has been under the boot of Boko Haram for over one year.
Chadian forces had early this year helped to reclaim the town from Boko Haram after killing nearly 200 of the terrorists, only for the insurgents to return immediately and retake the town.
Gamboru, a former bubbling commercial border town, was was rendered desolate with virtually everything destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists. Houses are in ruins and overgrown by tall grasses while social amenities and infrastructure, including telecommunication masts, were all wrecked.
Gamboru town shares boundary with Fotokol, a Cameroonian town just across a bridge running over a river that separates the two countries.
After a trip that lasted about eight hours, covering a distance of 145km roads that was heavily mined by explosives, the Army performed a brief flag hoisting ceremony to signal the reclamation of the territory.
On the other side of the bridge, thousands of Nigerians chased away by Boko Haram from Ngala and Gamboru towns rent the air with cheers to the soldiers as the beautiful green and white Nigerian flag glided gently up the pole as patriots, both military and civilians, sang the country's National Anthem with tears of joy and triumph trickling downs from their eyes.
The flag was hoisted at the exact spot where Boko Haram terrorists had their flag flying for nearly a year.
Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai delivered an emotional speech at the spot where the flag was hoisted: "We are here today to observe this significant and symbolic ceremony of hoisting the Nigeria national flag. If you could remember, this town of Gamboru was occupied by the Boko Haram terrorists for almost one year. The Chadian troops came to help recapture it but could not hold the town, so they later withdrew and the Boko Haram returned again.
"In line with my vision, which is to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army that is abreast of its constitutional roles, one key underlying phrase in my mission is the 'constitutional role'. Today, under my command, we are here to discharge and redeem our territorial integrity as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today we are hoisting our flag and we will never allow any bunch of criminals in the name of Boko Haram to come and take an inch of our territory again. "I will like to commend officers and soldiers of the Operation Lafiya Dole, especially the officers and men of 7 Division and indeed the 7 Div Strike Group, who have proved to be resilient, dedicated and highly patriotic. Nigerians are proud of you, Nigerian Army is proud of you and indeed Mr President is very proud of you. We have to maintain the momentum and from now on you must maintain an aggressive posture to constant patrols along this routes and all other routes into this area."
He, however, urged the troops to remain vigilant in order to stop Boko Haram from taking advantage of any slack.
"The incident of mines being laid along the routes must be stopped! Troops are not here to come and sleep at night while Boko Haram bury mines on our roads.
"We still have a lot to do. The war is not over. The terrorists have changed their tactics, from moving out from their camps to attacking communities, to now moving in pockets, planting IEDs via humans or vehicles.
"On our way to this place, we saw how some IEDs were uprooted from the road by our troops and, unfortunately, one of the mines got detonated and affected our vehicles, and some soldiers got wounded."
"We once again, thank Mr President for reposing his confidence in us to help deliver his mandate. We are making progress and, definitely, we would achieve that mandate within the time given by Mr President. On this note I have the singular honour and pleasure to present the Nigerian Flag to the Commander Operation Lafiya Dole for hoisting and never to come down again.
Shortly after the flag was hoisted and the mini parade disbanded, the COAS, accompanied by the Theater Commander of OLD, Major General Yushau; the GOC 7 Div Lamidi Adeosun; the Commander, National Joint Task Force, Major General Iliya Abba; the Cameroonian Colonel Fonkon Djio Venerd Richard; and Lieutenant Colonel D' Aviation, Mohammet Yahaya of Chad walked over the bridge to address the cheering Nigerian refugees down the bank of the River.
Their voices of joy shook the serene environment as General Buratai spoke to them in Kanuri, a language most of them from both villages speak as major lingua franca.
The GOC passed the night with the troops in the open battle field in Gamboru where he spent time with excited troops that continued to praise his courage for being the first army chief in Nigeria to visit and spend the night with troops at the frontlines
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