The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said
that the latest senseless killings by the outlawed Boko Haram sect are
desperate actions to get undeserved attention through acts of terror,
and not related to the latest changes in the military commands and
structure.
He advised that people should refrain from inputting ethno-religious or negative interpretations to what is a purely military affair.
"Every serious military personnel must be ever ready to move as duty demands. The families are equally attuned."
Speaking with THISDAY Saturday, the Director of Defence Information
(DDI), Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, debunked the views in some quarters to
the effect that the latest upsurge in the insurgent attacks was as a
result of massive changes and redeployment of senior officers within the
military.
"Have you heard the terrorists giving any relationship between the
changes and their recent attacks? Their activities should just be seen
as consistent with the senseless desperation to get attention using the
most horrendous means possible," Olukolade said.
Lately, insurgents had renewed deadly attacks on communities in the
Northeast states of Borno and Adamawa, both of which are under emergency
rule. Just last week, deadly attacks were launched on Konduga village
in Borno State, killing 62. A mosque, markets and government buildings
were targeted during the massive assault.
The gunmen reportedly returned to launch fresh attacks on the village
two days later. Eyewitness accounts said the sect members had first
attacked Mailari village, about 10km away from Konduga where they burnt
houses, shops and sacked villagers.
The second attack, which began hours after the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar
Garbai Elkanemi, paid a visit to Konduga to commiserate with the people
over Tuesday’s attack, were said to have been effectively repelled by a
combined team of soldiers and the members of the youth vigilante known
as Civilian-JTF.
A group of suspected members of the sect had also launched similar
attacks on Wajirko, another Borno State village on Tuesday, killing four
people, injuring about six and destroying 50 homes in the process.
The newly appointed service Chiefs in the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air
Force effected comprehensive changes of personnel, including six new
General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Brigade commanders and similar
positions.
This prompted some security analysts and experts to attribute the
latest attacks in some parts of the Northeast to the recent changes,
with some even tying it to Boko Haram response to a statement credited
to the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh,
to the effect that "Terrorism will end by April", which was however
later clarified in context.
Similarly, some have also expressed concern that the constant tinkering
with military commands and structure, including massive movement of
personnel and equipment would inflict huge financial loss to the coffers
of the country.
"As far as I can remember, the immediate past Service Chiefs did
massive postings, appointments and redeployment barely a month ago, and
now you are changing officers and personnel with their families," a
source confided to THISDAY. "Don't you think this will come at a heavy
cost to the military and the nation?"
All these allegations and fears, have however been doused by Olukolade
who noted that postings and redeployment are routine exercises in the
military with no known negative impact on the commands and structures,
as well as the operational processes.
He advised that people should refrain from inputting ethno-religious or negative interpretations to what is a purely military affair.
Olubolade also noted that such changes come with no extra cost to the
nation as the military has internal mechanism to adjust to such
outcomes.
He said: "There is no extraordinary cost implication as the system has
inbuilt capacity to adjust for changes as they become necessary. It is
simply out of place for anyone to try to draw irrelevant parallels
towards making insinuations on military postings.
"Every serious military personnel must be ever ready to move as duty demands. The families are equally attuned."
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