It is actually more surprising than a shock that Nigerian military forces in Borno state use the same voice-over radio systems as Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents. This I think allows the enabling of the latter to intercept communications and anticipate ambushes or organise attacks. The Hiyunton H290 is a VHF/UHF radio interceptable when pairs are lost. This is not an allegation but a clear cut evidence with recurring reports of military infiltration and sabotage in Nigeria's northeast, including a January 2025 ISWAP ambush in Borno that killed soldiers, amid claims of insider leaks rather than technical vulnerabilities. As a signals intelligence analyst with over a decades of years tracking asymmetric warfare in sub-Saharan Africa, one detail emerging from open-source intel on Nigeria's Borno operations stands out the Nigerian Armed Forces and ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgents appear to operate on identical voice-over-radio platforms. This isn't mere coincidence, it's a tactical Achilles' heel enabling real-time interception, predictive ambushes, and coordinated strikes. At the core of this situation is the Hiyunton H290, a compact VHF/UHF handheld transceiver (136-174 MHz VHF / 400-470 MHz UHF bands) it proliferates via gray-market imports from Shenzhen suppliers. The vulnerability, also known as Lost pairing, could and would occur If insurgents capture or raid a unit (common BHT in hit-and-run ops), they sync to the exact freq/hop sequence. And yes, just off-the-shelf a $20 SDR dongle can sniff and decode pairing in seconds. Military patrols broadcast troop movements, rally points, and ROE in the clear to anyone tuned in. This sometimes displaces recurring reports of "insider leaks" which may mask a deeper issue. Take the Jan 8 ISWAP ambush near Sabon Gari: 6 NAF personnel KIA, 34 insurgents neutralized in the counter. Initial attributions pointed to moles, but pattern analysis (cross-referenced with prior incidents) screams comms compromise. Insurgents struck with surgical timing and flanking a convoy mid-relocation, per leaked after-action summaries. This post above b6 @DanBorno is clearing the fact that in most cases, it is not human intel breach; just eavesdropped chatter.