The military has asked Babagana
Zulum, governor of Borno state, to be mindful of his remarks against the troops
fighting insurgency.
Last month, the governor accused
soldiers of being behind an attack on his convoy in Baga, a town in Borno.
The attack was believed to have
been carried out by Boko Haram insurgents but Zulum attributed it to a sabotage
from the army.
He later said he would mobilise hunters to do the job if the troops were unable to secure Baga.
But after the military’s
investigation into the attack, Felix Omoigui, a major-general and deputy
theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, said the governor’s claims were
untrue.
“The governor of Borno state
believed these allegations levelled against troops of the 19 Brigade in Baga
given his recent utterances,” he said.
“Remarks of highly placed persons
are capable of demoralising the troops which would negatively impact on
operations and the confidence of the locals in the military.
“Allegations of such nature could
be avoided if the military authority was contacted on issues concerning troops
activities before going public.
“The realisations that the
allegation emanated from security agencies could trigger reactions and
animosity among troops and attendant negative consequences.”
Omogui also said the allegations
that troops were engaged in farming in the area were false, adding that the
prohibition of troops from engaging in farming and fishing activities in area
of responsibility is contained in the standing operating procedures.
“The allegations were conjured by
some overzealous security agencies who for personal glory and without recourse
for the tenets of inter-agency cooperation decided to propagate falsehood,” he
said.
He added that the military’s
investigative team found that the entire area of Baga was too heavily mined
with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to encourage any farming activity, and
that 55 mines have so far been detonated since the town was reclaimed.
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