Boko Haram and Cameroon's vulnerability in command operations: A Call For Concern

The Cameroon Army is a professional conventional army. Until the news of the Boko Haram firing at a Helicopter ferrying members of the high command of this army, the performance of the men and women at the battlefield has been largely successful and even admirable.

Unfortunately the news that the high command of the Cameroon Army came under attack by Boko Haram at the war front in Fotokol in the Extreme North of the country is cause of grave anxiety if not worry.

The ramification of that incident if true goes beyond this single attack. Boko Haram is a ruthless enemy fighting a terrorist war against not just the countries in the sub-region, namely, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger but the international community which has declared it a terrorist organization that threatens international peace and security.

A certain level of national and international coordination is expected in confronting this enemy. This coordination includes the sharing of intelligence on operational decisions on the movement and actions of the enemy but also allied operations tending to locate and eradicate the enemy.

The reported attack may be construed as a failure of accurate intelligence in assessing the risks to the population, the army personnel and high command deployed to the area. It exposes a vulnerability in the command operations and intelligence that must be corrected with the urgency it requires.

The deployment of the high command of the army to an operational war zone potentially puts the national territory at risk and other components of the defence forces without effective command in case of need. The situation room and high command should never ever be without effective command for any reason what soever.

It is not reassuring for citizens, a country and a subregion at war to know that the high command of army that is at the forefront of the war against a trans boundary international enemy with the capacity, resources and sophistication of Boko Haram placed itself in harms way.