1. Congo Crisis (1960-1965)
Just about when Nigeria got her independence from the British, her soldiers were deployed to Congo from 1960-1964 as part of UN Peacekeeping Operations in Congo.
The crisis began almost immediately after Congo became independent from Belgium and the struggle for power led to series of civil wars which killed over 100,000 people.
2. Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970)
The Nigerian Civil war also known as the Biafran war was the largest engagement of the Nigerian army lasting 30 months resulting in the death of about 100 thousand soldiers making it the bloodiest for the NAF.
3. Nigerian-Cameroon Border Conflict.
This is also known as the Bakassi Conflict is a armed dispute over the ownership of Bakassi Peninsula.
In the 1980s tensions rose at the border; with the two countries nearly going to war on 16 May 1981, when five Nigerian soldiers were killed during border clashes. There were retaliatory attacks by both countries on each other during this period but the height of it was when Nigeria took the whole of Bakassi Peninsula on February 18, 1994. However, it was fully returned to Cameroon in 2008.
4. Chadian- Nigerian War.
The Chadian–Nigerian War was a brief war that was fought over the control of islands on Lake Chad. The war started when the Chadian army invaded and occupied 19 Nigerian Islands on Lake Chad.
A Nigerian force led by Muhammadu Buhari launched a counterattack which retook the Islands then invaded Chad itself 50 kilometers into their borders.
5. First Liberian Civil war(1989-1997)
This Civil war was started when Charles Taylor led The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) to invade Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow President Samuel Doe in December 1989 and gained control over most of the country.
President Doe was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson. But the NPFL and INPFL started fighting each other which resulted in the intervention of Ecowas led by Nigeria.
A force of 4000 ECOMOG troops were deployed from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Guinea. Along with the deployment of UN troops helped brokered a peace agreement between the warring factions.
6. Sierra Leone Civil War.(1991-2002)
This Civil war began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Charles NPFL, intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government.
This resulted in the deployment of ECOMOG and UN which Nigerian troops were part of.
With help the British Operation Palliser finally defeated the RUF, retaking control of Freetown. On 18 January 2002, President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over.
7. Niger Delta Conflict. (Ongoing)
The Niger Delta Crisis in Nigeria arises from grievances over oil exploitation, environmental degradation, and economic marginalization.
From as far back as 1994, the government launched military interventions to curb militancy, leading to further violence and human rights abuses. Local communities resorted to sabotage and kidnapping to press their demands. In 2009, the government offered an amnesty program for militants, which reduced violence temporarily but failed to address underlying issues.
8. Northern Mali Conflict.
The Northern Mali Conflict began in 2012 with a Tuareg rebellion seeking independence for Azawad, later hijacked by jihadist groups like AQIM and Ansar Dine. A coup in Mali further destabilized the country, leading to French intervention in 2013. Despite peace efforts, violence continues due to jihadist insurgencies and ethnic clashes.
Nigeria has been involved through the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA), contributing troops to support the Malian government.
9. War Against Boko Haram (2009-Present)
The Nigerian war against Boko Haram began in 2009 when the Islamist militant group launched an insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria but was defeated by the Nigerian Armed Forces resulting in the death of BH first leader, Mohammed Yusuf. The group resurge in 2010 led by Abubakar Shekau and started series of bombings, prison breaks and capturing large territories in Northeast Nigeria, Northern Cameroon, Southeast Niger and Western Chad.
A massive offensive by the NAF starting in January 2015 helped reclaim most of this land and Boko Haram has been mostly pushed into the Sambisa forest and almost defeated. But there has been rise in other terrorist groups like ISWAP, ISIS, Bandits.
10. Southeast Insurgency.
This is an ongoing conflict between the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a paramilitary wing of IPOB.
The conflict is a result of attempts by IPOB to re-establish a Republic of Biafra…..Continue Reading>>>
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