…Probe Military Budgets From 1999 To 2018 SERAP

By Kola Bola

Nigerians have been calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to take action on the massacre of soldiers in Metele, Borno State, last week.

Reports have it that no fewer than 100 soldiers were killed in one fell sweep by the Boko Haram insurgents, while unannounced number of guns and ammunition were also said to have been carted away by the insurgents in renewed efforts to make true its threat to carve a territory out of Nigeria.

The soldiers were seen crying for the loss of their colleagues amidst complaints of having to combat the sophisticated weapons of the terrorist group with obsolete ones they parade.

A South African mercenary, who fought Boko Haram jihadists in Nigeria, Eeben Barlow, spoke out on Sunday against President Buhari’s handling of the Islamist insurgency, blaming “poor political decisions” for an upsurge in violence.

In a statement Barlow criticised Buhari for claiming that Boko Haram is “technically defeated” and said the jihadists are “causing numerous casualties and capturing massive amounts of equipment and ammunition.”

Barlow, former South African Defence Force commander, said Buhari’s government cut short his contract after his company, Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP), had helped reclaim swathes of territory back from Boko Haram at the peak of the nine-year Islamist insurgency in 2015.

“Pressure forced only a small part of the campaign to be successfully implemented before we were ordered to pack up and leave,” Barlow said.

Despite Buhari’s government saying that Boko Haram is close to defeat, the jihadists have led a number of assaults against the military in recent months, highlighting their continued threat to Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region.

“Northeastern Nigeria is an example of what can happen when intelligence is rejected in favour of a false narrative,” Barlow said.

“Don’t blame the armed forces when poor political decisions result in the deaths of people.”

The Nigerian military broke its silence late Friday evening to confirm that the Metele base had been attacked on November 18, but did not give a death toll.

Many of the deadly attacks on military installations have been claimed by the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram.

Meanwhile, some Nigerians have taken to Twitter to challenge Buhari to take responsibility for the mass killings of over 100 soldiers in Metele.

Boko Haram terrorists had invaded the military base on Monday, November 19, where they targeted all the soldiers in the base.

Reacting to national responses on the attack, President Buhari had taken to his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, on Sunday, “We must resist the temptation to play politics with the tragedy of the deaths of our soldiers. They are heroes on the frontlines, fighting to make Nigeria a safer place for us all. Rest assured that the circumstances that have led to these deaths will be comprehensively addressed.”

However, his Twitter followers did not accept his counsel, as they greeted his tweet with angry responses.

“He doesn’t and won’t take responsibility.
He only blames.
Even a toddler takes responsibility when he gets spanked for pooing on himself or breaking a glass.
This god must not be blamed. He is like the Pharisee in that parable “Lord u know I am not like that man who sins…”

Another twitter user, “Talk is cheap. Might I add, that if it’s all the same, we will continue to see this statement for the political chess game that it is. How about taking responsibility for the deaths and actually making sure there’s no repeat. It’s all a game to you.”

Ehi Okupa, @ehiokupa, “Have the Blamer in Chief, reduced from Commander in Chief ever taken responsibility for anything? His game has always been to blame others.”

Afolabi, @Shegzzie, “Why didn’t we hear about it on Televisio? Why are you just talking about it now after the video already circulated? Shame on you, Mr., just go back to your village.”

Justice Maduforo, @JusticeMaduforo, “I disagree on this. Citizens must hold any government in power to protect and account for the safety of every citizens, army or civilians. Their death is sickening. Address the cause and not citizens calling out their government.”

IamKris, @kristkrest, tweeted “This is simply rhetorics. Putting the lives of these men on the line without adequate and modern weaponry is suicidal, in fact systematic manslaughter. This is 2019, you don’t approach a war the way it was in your time in the Army. Weaponry has gone beyond mechanical.”

Also an anti-corruption group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order an immediate probe into the spending of military budgets from 1999 to 2018.

SERAP also called on Buhari to take before the International Criminal Court (ICC) all cases of alleged diversion of military funds, including $2billion arms funds allegedly diverted during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

SERAP had on Sunday by its Senior Legal Adviser, Bamisope Adeyanju, said it believed that the inability of the Nigerian troops to respond adequately to attacks by insurgents was tied to inadequate arms.

“We believe that referral of the cases to the ICC would serve as a deterrent and ensure that Nigerians, particularly those in the North-East of the country whose human rights, including the right to life, to human dignity, and to an adequate standard of living have been violated are not denied justice and effective remedies.

“SERAP is concerned that several billions of naira allocated to the military to defend the country have neither contributed to improving the ability of Nigerian soldiers to fight Boko Haram and other armed groups nor provided the much-needed security especially for Nigerians in the North-East of the country.”

It added, “The military’s inability to respond adequately to the Boko Haram insurgency suggests among other things a mismanagement in the spending of the country’s defence budgets.

“Establishing a commission of inquiry to investigate how defence and military budgets have been spent since May 29, 1999 would help Nigerians to know if the funds meant to defend the country and for the purchase of arms to empower Nigerian soldiers to fight Boko Haram have been transparently and accountably spent.”

President Buhari summoned Service Chiefs to an emergency security meeting over this disturbing killing of soldiers by Boko Haram sect.

Federal Government, it was learnt, delayed pronouncement on the latest victims of Boko Haram insurgency because families of the victims were being identified and contacted.

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs.

“And the families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks.

“This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” a source who pleaded anonymity said.

President Buhari had dispatched the Minister of Defence, retired Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali, to Chad for an emergency meeting with the Chadian President, Idris Deby, on the deterioration of security at the Nigeria-Chad border.

Dan-Ali had on Thursday briefed President Buhari on security development across the country including the recent killings of some Nigerian soldiers by the ISWAP, a breakaway Boko Haram sect, operating along Nigeria-Chad border.

The sources, who preferred not to be named, said, “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which was put together to secure the Lake Chad Basin area and repeal the Boko Haram terrorism attacks against all the countries neighbouring the lake.”

President Buhari has shifted to Maiduguri COAS Annual Conference originally scheduled to hold in Benin, Edo State.

The shifting of the COAS Annual Conference from Benin to Maiduguri might not be unconnected with the killing of Nigerian soldiers at Metele.

President Buhari would use the opportunity of the COAS conference to address the Nigerian soldiers at the battlefields to further boost their morale.

In a tweet in Abuja on Sunday, the President’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said all the service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim and the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, were part of the meeting.

President Buhari had pledged to ensure that the loopholes, which led to the fatalities, are blocked once and for all.

On 18 November, the Al Barnawi faction of Boko Haram attacked the 157 Task Force Battalion based at Metele in northern part of Borno State, killing scores of Nigerian troops.

Buhari had, through a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in Abuja on Saturday, reiterated his administration’s commitment to the security of military personnel and other citizens.

“No responsible Commander-in-Chief would rest on his oars or fold his hands to allow terrorists to endanger the lives of military personnel and other citizens”, Shehu quoted the president as saying.

“Our loyal forces have proved their strength over the terrorists and we are ready to give them all the needed support, in terms of equipment and manpower, to succeed in ending the renewed threat.

“In the coming days, I am engaging the military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking.”

The president, however, advised Nigerians against making a political capital out of the national tragedy, saying “members of the armed forces are one family, commonly committed to the security and safety of all Nigerians.”