There were shocking revelations at the weekend that an Army Colonel, some junior officers and soldiers who were taking part in the military offensive to reclaim communities taken over by the Boko Haram terrorists in Adamawa State, have been arrested for sabotage.
Soldiers tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants arrive to face trials for mutiny in Abuja on October 2, 2014. Nearly 100 soldiers tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants in Nigeria's far northeast appeared at a military court martial on Thursday, facing a range of charges including mutiny. The hearing comes just weeks after a tribunal sentenced 12 soldiers to death following their conviction for shooting at their commanding officer in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, in May.
Top military sources said that the colonel (a Muslim) who was Commanding a team of three Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC’s, with the capability to fire up to a range of 1.5kilometres or even more, had instead of pursuing the terrorists, deliberately set the APCs on fire between Gulak and Madagali, before running away with his team of soldiers into the bush.
It was gathered that the Army authorities were outraged over the development and ordered the arrest of both the commander, the junior officers as well as the soldiers under his command.
Narrating how the ‘’embarrassing incident occurred,’’ a source who was privy to the development noted that until the latest development, the Special Forces of the Nigerian Army who commenced the putsch to rout Boko Haram terrorists from Bazza, Michika, Gulak and Madagali from Vimtim, had successfully dealt with, and inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists up till Gulak.
It was said that between Gulak and Madagali, the Colonel who had all along been prided with air surveillance reports, was again informed that Boko Haram terrorists were approaching his team in six Toyota Hilux Pick Up vans from the Madagali axis.
“However, rather than blasting and taking out the terrorists in their pick-up vans; he ordered his soldiers to jump out of the APC’s and set the armoured tanks on fire, without realising that he was being monitored. This was shocking because the terrorists were armed with weaponry which were grossly inferior to the firepower of the Nigerian Army Amoured tanks. After accomplishing the sabotage act, the Colonel and the junior officers and soldiers ran away into the bush, claiming that they were overpowered by a better armed group of Boko Haram terrorists,’’ Saturday Vanguard was told.
Military sources said that the action of the Colonel and soldiers under his command had given vent to the disclosure by the top hierarchy of the military that there were so many fifth columnists in the military working against the country’s determination to flush out Boko Haram terrorists in the land.
Consequently, Saturday Vanguard was told that a Board of Inquiry, BoI, had been set up by the Army authorities to investigate the Colonel and his soldiers after which a Military Court Martial would be set up to try them for conspiracy, treason and willful sabotage among others.
Also speaking on the development, a senior officer revealed, “You can now see why the Military Court Martial which is currently sitting is inevitable. The uninformed would feel that soldiers who are fighting the nation’s battle are being unjustly punished. But the truth is that many of them are sabotaging Nigeria and making the insurgents look formidable for reasons that cannot be explained. Some of them appear sympathetic to the insurgents.
“How can it be explained that several APCs that cost up to $1million each in some cases or more will be willfully destroyed by Commissioned Officers, COs, who swore to defend the territorial integrity of their nation, just to help terrorists? That is treason of the highest order.”
The source added that the new vigour and determination with which Nigerian troops had been prosecuting the war, resulting in the killing of several commanders of the sect as well as hundreds of the insurgents, was the fallout of the new position of the military high command to deal with those pursuing a different agenda from that of the Federal Government.
The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said last week that the death penalty imposed on the 12 soldiers who were tried for treason was lawful and in accordance with military dictates. He spoke at a three-day conference organised by the National Security Adviser in collaboration with Trim Communication Nigeria Ltd on Media/Security relationship in crisis management.
According to him, “The day you join the military you have signed off, whether life or death, and it is obey before complaint. How can a soldier just jump out of the APC because you want to donate APC to Boko Haram; and somebody is there talking about constructive mutiny.
“The laws are there, if you run away from the enemy, you will die and that is what the military law says. Apart from the old Nigerian law, we abide by the military law. Nobody forces or conscripts anybody into the military. It is a voluntary service, and so if we have this type of challenge, you should be able to confront it and not to run away.”
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that is the simple truth. Military is nt like any civil service job.
ReplyDeleteLaw and order must be maintained.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile let there be proper and thorough investigation and also the suspects be given their right to attorney.
Honestly, i find this news entertaining, especially the part that said the colonel is a Muslim. I have read reports on soldiers going against their COs, perpetrating evil, or even commiting mutiny. But their religion has always been left out of the equation, so i am bewildered that the soldier and supposedly, all his command are muslims and sympathetic to the Bokoharam. Can vanguard (cos the story emanate from them) tell us the religion of all or the majority in this command? Can they pick out subordinates who are non muslims to attestnto the claim that a sympathizer actually exist and has committed an act that is a sabotage?
ReplyDeleteAbdukadir Adoke I agree with you that it was unprofessional for.the journalist to mention the religion of the colonel as it tends to be prejudicial, but I think he was trying to explain why the colonel might be sympathetic to BH. That does not make it less preposterous that an officer of the army should run away from battle field when he has not exhausted his ammunition and to make it worse willfully damage tanks worth millions of dollars. This cannot be termed as cowardice but plain sabotage. This should be investigated and if proven,every culpable person must face the wrath of the applicable military law. It high time we start calling a spade a spade.
DeleteThis medium is always biased against Muslims and northerners. How can one man set the APCs on fire and expect not to be seen? This is an orchestrated lie to dislodge Muslims from the army. The have failed.
DeleteIf they set the vehicles on fire so they'll become unusable by the enemy, then how is it sabotage or an attempt to donate the APC to Boko Haram?
ReplyDeleteit is sabotage becos they are suppose to use thier superior firepower to fight and kill the insurgents instead they decided to destroy expensive equipment in their custody bought with our public fund. do you now understand why it is sabotage?
DeleteDon't waste your breath on any explanation because as far that it has been mentioned that the culprit is a Muslim everything all of a sudden is right. Even a five year old kid knows that all boko haram including its sponsors and sympathisers are Muslims. This is no news, just a pity that an air surveillance was kept on the maggot and he was caught right in the usual act. Devilish religion, worshippers of satan!
Deletekill them all.
ReplyDeleteISLAM/MUSLIMS( Of NORTHERN TRIBES) = BOKO HARAM
ReplyDelete