The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC,
has expressed consternation, dismay and shock over the killing of Nigerian
soldiers by Boko Haram terrorists.
Boko Haram terrorists on Monday
overran the 157 Task Force Battalion at Metele Village in Guzamala Local
Government Area of Borno State.
Over seventy Nigerian soldiers
allegedly lost their lives during the encounter.
The high death toll has already
caught the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari who summoned top brass in
the Nigerian military command to review the situation..
MURIC’s reaction was contained in
a press statement signed and made available on Monday, by the
group’s director and founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
It read: “This is audacious,
benumbing and preposterous. We are nonplussed. This is a national tragedy of no
little proportion. We join millions of other patriotic Nigerians to mourn these
fallen heroes. Our hearts go to those gallant soldiers who paid the supreme
sacrifice for their country in active service. We ask Nigerians to pray for
them and their families. We also implore our religious leaders to organize
special prayers for total victory over the insurgents.
“But we must not spend all the
time on our mats and knees praying. We must, in the spirit of ora et labora,
work more and pray less because it is our handiwork that Allah will crown with
glory. Allah himself confirmed this position when He said, ‘Tell them to work
and Allah will see (i.e. He will reward you for) your work…’ (Glorious Qur’an
9:105).
“The question that arises here is
how much work did we do? How well did we prepare for the insurgents? There are
allegations that neglect and sabotage caused the Metele fiasco. Soldiers in
that axis reportedly complained of poor weaponry but nothing was done about it.
“We are therefore demanding a
probe of events which led to the overrunning of Metele and the merciless
killing of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents.
“MURIC recalls a similar
situation in 2014 when 54 Nigerian soldiers complained to their commander that
their weapons were too poor to confront better equipped Boko Haram fighters.
They had earlier lost 23 men and four officers due to poor equipment when they
advanced on Damboa on 9th July, 2014. This made them to demand better supplies
but they were rounded up instead. They were consequently tried and sentenced to
death but this was later commuted to ten years imprisonment. They are still in
jail as we speak.
“What kind of people are we? Why
must those who work for us suffer unnecessary hardship on account of the
services they render? Why must soldiers who are defending our territorial
integrity be punished unjustly? Those 54 soldiers would have been slaughtered
like rams in 2014 if they had not raised objection and refused an illegal
order.
“Their refusal to march on
insurgents with bare hands created the awareness of the existence of massive
fraud in the army. Why must they still be in jail today? MURIC therefore calls
for presidential pardon for the 54 soldiers. They should be treated as
whistle-blowers and heroes for exposing graft.”
MURIC also descended on Western
powers for delaying the supply of sophisticated weapons to Nigeria and for
playing tortuous politics with the issue.
“We are bemused that strange
conditionalities are pushed forward each time the issue of supplying better
weapons to Nigeria in its fight against terrorism is raised before Western
countries. They raise baseless issues of human rights and tie remote incidents
to the supply. Those countries are not behaving like friends at all.
“But what moral right do we have
to blame outsiders when Nigerian lawmakers are the country’s worst enemies?
“They have never displayed any
unity of purpose when the presidency requests funds to purchase sophisticated
weapons. We recall the National Assembly’s strong objection and procrastination
when President Muhammadu Buhari asked for $1 billion for more arms in February
2018. It is paradoxical that the same unpatriotic elements are now blaming the
presidency for the Metele tragedy.
“We urge Nigerians to open their
eyes. We must never surrender the national mandate to shenanigans, egocentric
and unpatriotic politicians in 2019. Never again, never again must we allow
those who supervised the debilitation and emaciation of Nigerian troops to
occupy the seat of power.
“They diverted huge amounts of
money meant for arms for our soldiers to the extent that our soldiers started
running each time they saw Boko Haram fighters. It is a shame that some of the
drammatis personaecan still blame the current administration for what happened
at Metele. It is also a manifestation of gross insensitivity for anyone to
politicize the disaster.
“This is food for thought for the
Nigerian civil society. We are particularly miffed by the silence of powerful
groups like the Nigerian Labour Congress on the moral debauchery, open
blackmail and daylight robbery of our common patrimony going on in the NASS.
The latter armtwisted the executive in virtually every aspect of administration
yet nobody spoke out. Revelations were made about their illegal and atrocious
salaries and unlawful emoluments. Nobody did as much as whisper.
“NASS delayed the 2018 budget for
seven months and nobody did as much as whimper. The same NASS cut allocations
to vital areas in the budget and added the deductions to its own in brazen
exploitation and legislative rascality.
“Yet the same NLC ignored this
and went on strike to put additional pressure on an overstressed
administration. Silence is not golden in moments like these.
“Nonetheless, Metele or no
Metele, we assert clearly, emphatically and unequivocally that Boko Haram
remains technically defeated. A group of terrorists who once occupied 17 local
governments, terrorized three North Eastern states (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe)
and extended its tentacle of bombing terror to Kano and Abuja has been reduced
to a shadow of itself.
“It is now restricted to acts of
cowardice, hiding behind little girls who play the role of suicide bombers,
engaging in seasonal guerilla warfare and disguising as friendly soldiers to
gain access into the camps of gallant Nigerian soldiers”.
MURIC also sent a strong message
to Nigerian soldiers fighting Boko Haram in the North East.
“To our gallant soldiers, both
officers and other ranks, we salute you all. You have done well and many of you
deserve medals. We are proud of you. We know all about your sacrifices for the
sake of our dear country.
“You are on sentry all night so
that we can sleep peacefully. You face hardship so that Nigeria may remain one
indivisible entity. Boko Haram would have taken Abuja but for your gallantry.
“You are our heroes. We are with
you in your advance on the enemy. We assure you that you are not alone. We
share your pains. Your victories gladden our hearts.
“We are with you in the trenches.
Come rain, come shine, we will never abandon you. We are on our prayer mats in
the mosques and on our knees in the churches as you battle the enemy. We charge
you to forge forward. To flush out Boko Haram is a task that must be done.
“As we round off, we charge the
Federal Government to quickly institute a probe of the Metele fiasco. We plead
for presidential prerogative of mercy for the 54 soldiers. We call on Nigerians
to treat those responsible for diverting arms money to their personal pockets
like political lepers in 2019. They should not touch them with a long pole.”
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