Six military commanders, including an injured
Lieutenant Colonel, have been arrested by
the military for withdrawing from Mararaba,
Michika, Madagali, Mubi and later Vimtim
when Boko Haram insurgents attacked the
communities last week.
It was learnt that an unspecified number of
soldiers were also in detention for allegedly
abandoning the communities, thereby making
easy for the insurgents to have an upper
hand.
A reliable military source, who made this
known in Abuja on Sunday said the
movement of five of the commanders had
been restricted to the officers mess in a
military formation.
The source, who did not name the military
formation, because of security reason, added
that “one of them, a Leutenant Colonel is
receiving treatment at the MRS in Yola for
serious injuries he sustained when the car in
which he was escaping with somersaulted
several times.”
He said the injured officer would join his
colleagues in the officers mess on recovery.
Our source said, “Today (Sunday), the
military authorities arrested five commanders
around the Mubi axis of Adamawa State. The
sixth is a Lt. Col.
“Some of those arrested were at Mararaba,
Madagali, Michika and other locations. I
think the military leaders are saying that the
soldiers did not resist the Boko Haram when
they invaded the place”.
Our source explained that the Defence
authorities had already commenced
investigations into the activities of all its
personnel in relation with the capture of
Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa
State and other supposedly “fortified
locations”, including Vimtim, the home town
of the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh.
The insurgents had reportedly burnt Badeh’s
residence, a clinic and a civic centre in the
community on Thursday.
The source explained that the military
authorities were determined to find out why
the Boko Haram’s advance in the state was
not resisted by the troops.
He said the military chiefs were of the
opinion that the “tactical withdrawal” of the
soldiers from their positions was nothing but
a “display of indiscipline and cowardice
which would not be tolerated”.
Our correspondents gathered that it was the
military authority’s conviction that enough
weapons and men were deployed in Mubi
and other locations to frustrate the any
attack by the insurgents.
On Thursday, the Minister of Defence, Lt.Gen.
Aliyu Gusau; the Chief of Defence Staff, Air
Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt. Gen Kenneth Minimah,
declined to speak with journalists on issues
relating to the capture of Mubi and the other
communities by the insurgents.
When contacted on the issue, the Director
of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris
Olukolade, said, “Anyone found to have
undermined the ongoing operation will face
appropriate sanctions and this is well known
to all military personnel”. (AFP)
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