Military promises to retake territories from Boko Haram

Military promises to retake territories from Boko Haram

The military told senators yesterday that soldiers will take back territories seized by Boko Haram insurgents.
Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, who represented Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh at a parley with the Senate Committee on Defence, was quoted as saying that the military would restrategise to recover lost grounds.
The committee summoned the service chief over reports of towns falling into the hands of insurgents and soldiers retreating.
But the meeting was almost marred by a disagreement between the committee members and the Army chief over whether Gen. Minimah should make a remark or not before the meeting went into a closed-door session.
The chairman of the committee, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, gave the synopsis of the meeting whose agenda is “very loaded”.
He noted that while politicians were busy scheming for the 2015 election, insurgents were having a field day especially in the Northeast. He informed the Army Chief that Nigerians were getting impatient and irritated not only with the military but also with the government and those who represent them at various levels.
He added: “I believe that we are trying our best but is our best the best we can offer? What is happening is becoming increasingly difficult to explain to Nigerians. We want to be told what is happening. The insurgents are having a field day.
“We are aware that they (the government) is releasing your funds to you because you have not complained. We also approved $1billion for the President to purchase arms and ammunitions to fight Boko Haram. We are aware that your budget is being released to you. If you have difficulties you should tell us.
“The spate of insurgency, the way and manner the insurgents are taking areas, is getting worrisome. We want to know what is happening. We also want to know the issue of the reported ceasefire. We want to know whether there was actually any ceasefire.
“We want to know whether there was a dialogue, the stage of the dialogue, if any, because few days after the announcement of the ceasefire, the insurgents struck and have continued to strike.
“At the last meeting, we were told that the insurgents have captured seven local government areas. The CDS confirmed that and asked that they should be given some time to liberate the captured areas.
“We want to know where we are. We are approaching election year; are we going to conduct election in the Northeast under the dire security challenge? These are our concerns and the concerns of Nigerians.”
Sekibo then asked Gen. Minimah to throw light on the issues he highlighted.
Gen. Minimah took a measured breath and said: “I came to interface with the Senate Committee on Defence; can the press leave us?”
The Army Chief said that operational matters are never discussed on the pages of the newspapers.
Sekibo asked Gen. Minimah to “just reassure Nigerians that the military is on top of the security situation in the affected areas”.
The Army Chief insisted that he would not discuss security matters in the presence of the press.
A member of the Committee, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, intervened, reminding Gen. Minimah that the press is an important stakeholder in the fight against insurgency.
Sekibo promised to speak to reporters after the meeting. He did after about two and half hours of the meeting. Sekibo said: “You (reporters) were here with us when we started at about 1pm. Now it is about two and half hours. We have deliberated on the security issues affecting our country and the Chief of Army Staff has also responded on all the issues that were raised before him.
“We are assured to inform our constituents that it will not go worse than what we have now. We believe from the charge we have given to them from tomorrow and perhaps the nearest couple of weeks, we are going to have better results.”
The Chief of Army Staff said: “We had a setback in Bassa that resulted in loss of territories up to Mubi and painful though but we are working very hard to retake those territories.
“And very soon we will reclaim those territories and indeed other territories that the insurgents have taken.
“I want to continue to rekindle the confidence of Nigerians and particularly the ordinary Nigerians who have suffered the pain of this insurgency that the Nigeria Army will continue to do its best and strive to win this war and reclaim the lost territories.”
Also yesterday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) expressed concern over the rate the nation is losing ground in the current war against the Boko Haram insurgents and urged the Armed Forces to fight to reclaim their honour.
In a statement entitled “Reclaim Your Honour” by the General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, the congress said it believed in the capacity and resolve of the Nigerian Armed Forces to contain the insurgents, while appreciating the challenges faced by them
The statement said: “We acknowledge that this is not a regular war. We appreciate other challenges of our security forces among which are logistics, numbers, indiscipline, motivation and others.
“We are, however, worried by the consistent loss of territory by troops that are supposed to be the pride of the nation to a band of insurgents, perhaps not more than a battalion or two, poorly trained and relatively ill-equipped but whose foremost strength is their resolve to fight!
“It is saddening that all but half the Northeast, the size of many countries, is under the control of the insurgents. Our soldiers swore to an oath to maintain the territorial integrity as well defend the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today that sanctity is being violated with ease, the land is being desecrated and the blood of the innocent freely flow.
“Today, painfully, our armed forces have become the butt of jokes in not a few diplomatic circles as our soldiers have acquired for themselves the unenviable reputation of turning tail and becoming refugees at the slightest threat of a skirmish.
“We are concerned about the preparedness of our dear country and its capacity to fight. We are worried about our vulnerability. We at the Nigeria Labour Congress feel hurt and pained by what we are witnessing. We are saddened and petrified by what seems to be the unravelling of a dark prophesy.
“While our forces are retreating from the Boko Haram in various battle fronts, the sect has opened a new offensive, that of winning hearts in conquered territories. In our estimation, this makes more difficult the task of reclaiming these territories. Yet our forces must go forth with a single-minded devotion.
“We want to see them reclaim their honour and dignity. But, beside this, they signed a pact with the Nigerian people to defend them with their blood. It was reason the citizens paid tax, made sacrifices as well as surrendered their right to bear arms.
“At this point in time, we at the Congress still believe the setbacks are temporary and remediable. Accordingly, we urge them to liberate and hold those occupied territories forthwith.
“We call on the government to avail our security forces all that they need to accomplish this task. We similarly urge our communities in the conflict area to build synergy with our security forces. This is no longer an in eternal security issue. Nigeria is at war. The body language and attitude of our leaders must show this. Let us all rise with one accord and fight Boko Haram. We can beat them.”