TWO Brigadier-Generals, a Lieutenant-Colonel and other officers have been placed under arrest by military authorities over the recent loss of Baga and Monguno, two Borno State communities, to Boko Haram terrorists.
One of the Generals is injured and is under watch in a medical facility.
An online news medium, Premium Times, on Friday, reported that Brigadier General Enitan Ransome-Kuti, his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Suru and other officers were arrested for failing to repel the attack on the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Baga, which Ransome-Kuti commanded.
They were detained after they arrived in Maiduguri from Monguno, where they and their troops took refuge after they were dislodged from Baga.
Also arrested, it was gathered, are the commanding officers of the 134 and 174 battalions, Lieutenant Colonel Haruna and a Major Aliyu. The two battalions are under the MNJTF but were also overrun during the Boko Haram offensive of January 3.
The officers, now being held at the Officers’ Mess of the 21 Armoured Brigade, Maiduguri, were said to have failed to come through in the face of the attack in spite of a good arsenal.
They have also been asked to account for the weapons lost to the insurgents.
A top military source disclosed to Saturday Tribune that “no nation that is serious can keep quiet over the magnitude of loss in Baga and that is why the military authorities are doing something.”
The source added: “Look at the volume of both human and material losses and the quantum loss of equipment. They themselves know that they must account for their action. Everybody in that operation must account for his action. No serious military can ignore such a disaster that occurred in Baga.
“We know the source of this (media interest in the arrests). It is because one of them is a son of a civil rights activist that is late and they are now trying to use the media to whip up sentiments. But the military is not about sentiments; if you are capable, you are, and if not, there is nothing anybody can do about it.”
Major Aliyu is the acting commanding officer of the 134 Battalion. It was learnt that the substantive commanding officer, a Lieutenant-Colonel Etang, is already facing court-martial following an attack on his battalion on November 5, 2014.
Sources said the military authorities were disappointed that the attack on Baga was not repelled by troops of both battalions and the MNJTF headquarters despite the weapons at their disposal.
The sources said the authorities are especially angry with Ransome-Kuti for failing to lead his troops to counter the Boko Haram onslaught despite the high-calibre ammunition made available to his formation.
The Brigadier-General was also said to have gone underground for four days after the MNJTF was dislodged.
“Nobody was able to reach him and nobody could tell where he was. The suspicion is that he was roaming around Maiduguri in mufti while his troops were in disarray. He and his officers have to account for everything,” a source said.
The Commander of the 5 Brigade, Monguno, a Brigadier-General Yekini, is yet to be arrested because he is being treated for the injuries he sustained during the attack, it was leant.
According to sources, Yekini is being closely watched in his hospital bed and might be arrested once he is discharged from the medical facility.
When contacted, the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, told Saturday Tribune that it is routine in the military that every officer involved in an operation accounts for his action or inaction.
“After every operation, there is what we call post mortem, and that is where we know what actually happened, and if any officer deserves commendation, the military authorities will do that, and if any is found culpable for negligence, he will be disciplined,” Olukolade said.
Suspected members of Boko Haram had on January 3 attacked the base of the MNJTF in Baga, dislodging the soldiers.
A senior security official said the attack, which started at about 5.00 a.m., was one of the fiercest in recent times as soldiers battled to hold their grounds without success.
The MNJTF was created by defence and military chiefs from the six countries that make up the Lake Chad Basin Commission to combat arms trafficking, terrorism and related cross-border attacks that have continued to rise in the region.
In the last two years, Baga town has suffered five major attacks with high casualty – the latest being that of November 2014 when Boko Haram terrorists ambushed fishermen returning from a night fishing expedition and slit the throats of 43 of them.
The terrorists also launched three different attacks on Borno’s three largest towns – Maiduguri, Konduga and Monguno on Sunday. While the attacks on Maiduguri and Konduga were repelled by the Nigerian military, Monguno fell to the insurgents.
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