Operation Lafiya Dole theater commander in the Northeast Nigeria, Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, told a pressmen last week that military authorities have confirmed that a Brigade Commander and some soldiers were selling arms and ammunition to Boko Haram terrorists.
The Brigade Commander is facing a secret trial in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state over what happened to 21 anti-aircraft guns assigned this year to his artillery brigade.
The admission comes three weeks after the Nigerian army said a military tribunal is trying 16 officers and troops accused of offences related to the fight against Terrorism and insurgency, including the theft and sale of ammunition suspected to Boko Haram.
It is a fact today that under current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader and a commander himself during the civil war, multinational forces has retaken most towns but Boko Haram continues to carry out occasional hit-and-run attacks.
However, before Buhari took over power, Nigerian soldiers told the Associated Press (AP) that they were forced into battle with just 30 bullets each and no food rations.
They also believed that Boko Haram was better armed and equipped, complained that their officers were stealing parts of their salaries and allowances.
Many uniform Nigerian soldiers ran away when the extremists attacked, allowing Boko Haram to take control of a large swath of northeastern Nigeria in 2014.
President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed corruption for the continuous rise in insurgency in the country and deaths of thousands in the seven-year Islamic uprising that has killed more than 20,000.
Children who escaped Boko Haram are dying of starvation and malnutrition in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps the spread across Northern Nigeria and in the northeast, where the government is investigating the alleged diversion and theft of food aid meant for refugees
No comments:
Post a Comment