By Suleiman Umaru
Former President Olusegun
The former President surprised many recently when he opened up why the battle against the BokoHaram Insurgents, BHI , bandits and Herdsmen acts of violence in different parts of the country are not yielding appreciable result.
He noted that the crisis in the
The Ogun state retired Army General and Politician had said that the” groups have incubated and developed beyond what the country can handle alone without the support of other countries” in the West African sub-region , particular Chad and Niger who are members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission including Cameroon, a member state of the Central African sub-region, which shares boundary with Nigeria via Cross River state,south-south Nigeria including Adamawa and Taraba states in the north east.
Given further information why it may be difficult for the combination of the Nigerian troops and the Multi-national Joint Task Force, MNJTF, to defeat the terrorists, , he said the security agencies ”intelligence gathering is poor”, noting that the situation has been made worse by” payment of ransoms which had strengthened the resolve of the insurgents to continue attacks on targets”.
The Ogun state born politician who fought the Nigerian- Biafra war between 1967 and 1970, who could not hide his feelings lamented that the fighting troops are ” poorly trained for the unusual mission, poorly equipped, poorly motivated, poorly led and made to engage in propanganda rather than achieving results”.
He noted that the only way for the soldiers could put an end to the activities of the Islamic Fundamentalists attacks in the region is for President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, who also fought the Civil war to guarantee the ”right welfare packages for troops fighting the terrorists in the north east”. He is optimistic that if the Katsina state born Nigerian President could muster the political will to address the welfare package of the fighting troops in the north east, the problem of ”organised crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking , gun trafficking , illegal mining in the north west and other parts of the country and regime change”, would be a thing of the past.
An aggrieved Obasanjo, who ruled the country both as a military Head of state and Civilian President, was forced to speak out at the seventh Synod of the Anglican Holy Communion , Oleh Diocese, in the Isoko Local government Area of Delta state, called for ”greater Collaboration among African nations in tackling the menace of terrorism in the Continent.
Tukur Buratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff , CAS,and the President , who may have given the room to Obasanjo to attack the government over its
According to
He disclosed that the coming of the Chadian
Recall that former President Obasanjo has called for Cooperation among nations tackling terrorists to be able to make a head way. The Nigerian and Chadian governments may have cue into it and are closely working together militarily to fight the Insurgents.
Note that the President had said during a day visit to Borno state last April that ”expansion of educational facilities in the state was the best response to Boko Haram’s actions”, stressing that to ”stifle education in the state , especially that of the girl child”, is dangerous. It is not surprising why he is laying much emphasis on girl child education in the north, since his return from his private visit to United Kingdom on Sunday ,May 5, 2019.
While the Nigerian fighting troops and the MNJTF soldiers including the Chadian troops have concentrated their efforts on the northern Borno, the southern part and Adamawa state, according to sources, have been neglected, thus exposing the people to frequent BokoHaram attacks.
Investigation by The Magazine shows that people from the area and Adamawa state who could not withstand the terrorists are being chased out of their homes to avoid been killed. A source disclosed that the Insurgents in their scores had stormed Gulak town , Headquarter of Magadali Local government Area of Adamawa state but were said to have been promptly engaged by the MNJTF, soldiers , forcing them to retreat to Duhu and Shuwa Communities.
As at press time, the battle for control of the two Communities are still on-going. It was gathered that three persons fell to the Insurgents bullet including a mobile policeman at Gulak. The trigger hungry terrorists were said to have left on their trail several burnt shops in Kirching Community while fleeing from the MNJTF superior fire power.
The situation , according to the Value News informant is more worrisome at Dille Community in Askira Uba Local government Ara of Borno state where the Insurgents awere said to be killing people with reckless abandon as they are leaving in droves from Chibok and Margi towns to other towns as the. MNJTF, soldiers from Lasa are currently advancing to the scene to crush them
In spite of the fact that the Military under the close watch of the service
Odinkalu said the security situation in the country has gotten to the height where” keeping the Service Chiefs are no longer tenable ”. The Professor insists that the President must drop the Service Chiefs in this his second term. ”They have done their best but not good enough”, he said. He frowned at a situation in which Nigerians are killed in their thousands which is worrisome.
He cited the case of Abubakar Adamu, the acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, , who is making effort to contain the activities of bandits in the north west geo-political region because he is ”communicating with Nigerians better and could tak full responsibility for his actions instead of giving fake news about police operations”.
But Hassan Stan- Labo, a retired Army Colonel would not want the President to bow to pressure to drop the Service Chiefs as it would create the impression in the mind of people that they did not perform well in office.
Labo posits that ”dismissing the Service Chiefs is not the answer to crushing the Insurgents, noting that they had witnessed the ”reduction in the rate of terrorists activities in the north east. ”We shouldn’t look like a nation that is not grateful”, he had said. indeed, the decision to sack or retain the Service Chiefs still lies with the President and nobody could read his mind set on the matter for now. The inauguration of his second term in office on June 12, 2019, would determine the security direction of the Administration to gurantee peace in all nooks and corners of the country.