A former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd.), has revealed the devastating human cost of the Boko Haram insurgency in his new book, stating that more than 2,700 Nigerian soldiers lost their lives between 2009 and 2021.
Irabor’s military memoir, “Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum,” also cites a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report estimating the total death toll—including both direct and indirect fatalities—at nearly 350,000 by 2020.
The book, which paints a harrowing picture of the conflict, likens the insurgency to a pandemic, noting that the extent of human suffering suitably defined the horrors caused by terrorists across Northeast Nigeria.
The 300-page military memoir captures the emotional, psychological, and communal dimensions of the Boko Haram Insurgency.
In his account, Gen. Irabor addresses misconceptions about the military casualties, noting that military cemeteries show a near-equal number of Christian and Muslim graves, thereby challenging claims that any single group was disproportionately sacrificed in the war effort.
Beyond the physical losses, Irabor captures the profound emotional and psychological dimensions of the conflict. He observes that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has emerged as a silent epidemic among military personnel.
The emotional wounds—including broken homes, absentee parenting, and untreated trauma—often go unnoticed and have, in some cases, led to fatal consequences like suicide and fratricide in operational zones.
The former CDS emphasizes the massive toll the war has taken on families, detailing how extended deployments caused soldiers to miss key life moments—birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries—leading to emotional strain and marital breakdowns.
General Irabor praised initiatives like the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA) for establishing a PTSD center in Abuja, calling it a “welcome development.”
He stressed that healing must be a collective commitment extending beyond the military to families and the nation at large.
The memoir also highlights the shattering effect the insurgency had on communities, which led to overcrowded and unsanitary Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad, overwhelming local and international humanitarian response agencies.
