The Nigerian government (Defense Minister) claims their bombs cannot penetrate forests

Bombs That Can’t Penetrate Trees? Or Truth That Can’t Penetrate Government Spin

The Nigerian government (Nigerian Minister of Defence Mohammed Badaru Abubakar) claims their bombs cannot penetrate forests.

The Nigerian government’s recent claim—that its military bombs “cannot penetrate forests” like Sambisa and other hideouts—is not just a baffling statement. It’s a dangerous one. It insults the intelligence of citizens, contradicts globally established military science, and raises sobering questions about what the government may be trying to hide.

The Technology Exists — So Why the Lies?

Around the world, dense forests have never been a meaningful barrier to modern air power. From precision-guided munitions to thermobaric weapons, today’s military arsenals are more than capable of striking accurately and devastatingly inside wooded terrain. Nations with far fewer resources than Nigeria have successfully deployed such weapons in similar environments.

A Convenient Excuse for a Persistent Failure

Experts say the real barriers to defeating terrorists hiding in forests are not trees—they are:

• Poor intelligence gathering

• Weak coordination between ground and air forces

• Inadequate surveillance systems

• Fear of civilian casualties

• Lack of political will

These are solvable problems. But solving them requires honesty, strategy, and accountability—three things in short supply among those making these recent claims.

So when government officials suddenly announce that “bombs can’t penetrate forests,” it sounds less like a technical assessment and more like an excuse crafted to soften public outrage over continued insecurity.

Deflection or Complicity?

This raises a more troubling possibility:Is the government using false technical claims to hide its incompetence—or something worse?

Nigeria’s security crisis is not just banditry; it includes:

• Ongoing terrorist attacks

• Rampant kidnapping

• State-enabled or tolerated militancy

• Communities—especially Christian communities—targeted repeatedly with little protection

• Decades-long patterns of selective response and suspicious hesitations

When a government consistently fails to confront violent non-state actors yet blames “trees” instead of terrorists, citizens are right to question whether this is mere negligence—or deliberate complicity disguised as incompetence.

Forests Are Not the Problem — Leadership Is

No forest in the world has ever defeated a modern air force. But corruption, bad strategy, political interests, and divided loyalties have defeated many.

If the Nigerian government wants to be taken seriously, it must stop insulting citizens with unscientific excuses and start confronting the real issues: broken intelligence structures, compromised officials, underperforming military leadership, and the unchecked rise of terror groups.

Until then, the only thing that seems unable to “penetrate the forest” is the truth—lost somewhere between government spin and the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.