Letter To President: Borno Demands AA Guns For Police

Letter to president also questioned non-deployment of 800
soldiers recruited from Civilian JTF

Arising from a letter containing 12 observations, and 10 demands
presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by a high-powered
delegation of Borno State on Monday, one observation informed the
president that “the Borno State Police Command, which has the duty
to preserve constitutional authorities in liberated and rebuilt
communities, is faced with challenges of low manpower and
dependence on AK-47 rifles to counter Boko Haram fighters who
attack communities with AA (Anti-Aircraft) rifles”. Consequently,
the letter in its second demand said: “Mr. President should
consider and approve, as a matter of special case, the specialized
use of AA rifles for the Borno State Police Command for capacity
enhancement as against the current dependence on AK 47 rifles”.

Also raised, is the question of why a majority of 800 Civilian
JTF fighters recruited into the Nigerian Army were not deployed to
Borno State to join in fighting Boko Haram. This, the letter said,
is despite the fact that the ex-CJTF members are “fearless and
understand Borno’s terrain better”.

The observation was seventh in Borno’s letter, while there is a
corresponding fifth demand for President Muhammadu Buhari to order
the immediate deployment to Borno State, the same 800 soldiers
drawn from ex-CJTF fighters.

When contacted, Brig-Gen SK Usman, Director of Army Public
Relations, said “the Nigerian Army does not deploy based on the
three extraneous variables of religion, ethnicity, or geography.”
He also said that it is one of the reasons that the army is one of
the most credible institutions in the nation.

On Monday this week, the delegation comprising two former
governors, traditional rulers, elders, national and state assembly
members, local government chairmen representatives of unions of
women, labour, journalists, religious leaders including the state
chairmen of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Jama’atul
Nasril Islam, led by Governor Kashim Shettima, met President Buhari
at the Villa.

Shettima presented a letter to the president, which he said
contained some key observations and 10 demands requiring
presidential intervention.

Although the delegation refused to make their demands public, an
impeccable high-level source said the letter was divided into two
parts. The first itemized 12 observations and the other contained
10 demands arising from the observations. Both observations and
demands were generated during an extraordinary security meeting
convened by the governor, which had in attendance senior military
officers, and other key security figures. The meeting held in
Maiduguri on Monday, December 31, 2019.

In a related observation, the letter told the president that
more than 26,000 Civilian JTF members who fight alongside the
military, depend on crude weapons. Also, the letter made demands
that the president should consider working with the National
Assembly for equipping a select few Civilian JTF, with
non-prohibitive arms and only for a specific period of time and
under strict regulation by the military.

The source also said the letter informed the president that some
members of the Civilian JTF who have been deeply involved in
intelligence-gathering, identification and arrest of Boko Haram
suspects in civilian populations, are worried the operation where
repentant Boko Haram insurgents are being released to the
population, could be breeding spies for insurgents.