Beacon Consulting was notified of an erroneous narrative presented by the Daily Trust on our behalf in connection with a case involving 252 people killed in Borno in August and the rejoinder by the Borno State Ministry of Information and Internal Security.
In its report, the Daily Trust cited our August 2023 Nigeria Security Report and the authorship of our Managing Director, Dr Kabir Adamu, to link the 252 fatality figure in Borno State to an alleged increase in the activities of non-state actors in Nigeria’s North East state of Borno, calling into question commendable security operations, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to combat terrorism in the state and region as a whole.
Beacon Consulting would like to categorically state that neither Daily Trust nor the Borno State Government contacted us prior to or after the publication and the rejoinder to obtain an explanation for their seemingly disputable report or the rejoinder.
While we unambiguously support press freedom and liberty, particularly when exercised in accordance with ethical apolitical behaviour, we reject sensational, unprofessional news reporting and speculative security incident narratives with no evidence to back them up.
Beacon Consulting stands by its figure of 252 fatalities in Borno State in August 2023. However, at no point in our report did we indicate that these figures represent an increase of non-state actors activities or that this was as a result of the ineptness of state government and security forces operations to curtail insecurity.
In our comprehensive August Security Report, we wrote, “It is assessed that the intensity of the armed conflict has reduced significantly, indicating improved tactics, techniques, and procedures, particularly in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as interservice and inter-agency coordination, collaboration, and cooperation within the nation.”
We would like to clarify that 60.7% (153) of the total fatalities were Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) deaths, which were attributed to both security forces operations that decimated 12 of these threat actors on August 11, 2023, and inter-group clashes with its rival group Jam’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihd (JAS), locally known as Boko Haram, on August 18, 2023, in the Gaizuwa community, also recognised as Gabchari, Mantari, and Mallum Masari, situated in the Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, which led to the deaths of over 100 insurgents.
Also, there was another clash between the groups on August 23, 2023, in Duguri, Kukawa LGA of Borno State. As a result, JAS deaths accounted for 36.1% (91) of total fatalities, resulting from security forces operations on August 10, 23, and 30 that decimated nine of these threat actors, as well as intra-ethnic fighting within the JAS group on August 14, 2023, in the Kukawa axis of Borno State, which resulted in 82 JAS deaths.
Civilian casualties, on the other hand, were restricted to 3.2% (8) of the total deaths. These deaths were linked to JAS’s attack on eight (8) fishermen on August 3, 2023, in northeastern Lake Chad near the Cameroonian border.
Beacon Consulting works diligently to collect relevant security information data from a variety of industry recognised intelligence sources as part of our enterprise security risk management and intelligence frameworks to assist our corporate clients in understanding, identifying, and mitigating general security threats that may pose a risk to their operations in the country. In doing this, we have supported several governmental and non-governmental interventions for the betterment of Nigeria and humanity in general.
We understand the negative implications that security threats pose to our country’s businesses, as well as the ripple effect on our economy, which is why, as part of our broad commitment to security and safety, our team of dedicated security intelligence analysts support not only our corporate clients but also internal security agencies with information and intelligence sharing for the general well-being of our people.
Beacon Consulting reiterates its commitment to press freedom and liberty when exercised in accordance with ethical apolitical behaviour and rejects sensational, unprofessional news reporting and speculative security incident narratives with no evidence to back them up. In addition, Beacon Consulting is committed to supporting the development of both government and non-government organisations intelligence capabilities.
Dr Kabir Adamu wrote from Abuja
