Soldiers’ inadequate commitment affecting insurgency war – Buratai

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has lamented
that some officers and men’s insufficient commitment is affecting
the success of the counter-insurgency operations in the
country.

Buratai who spoke on Tuesday at the opening of a five-day
leadership workshop for mid-level officers and soldiers in Abuja,
said the rising terrorist attacks were due to “insufficient
commitment to a common national and military cause by those at the
frontlines.”

The army chief noted that there were proven cases of soldiers
unwilling to carry out assignments given to them, adding that
reluctant troops should leave the service as the army would no
longer tolerate them.

Buratai said, “It is unfortunate, but the truth is that almost
every setback the Nigerian Army has had in our operations in recent
times can be traced to insufficient willingness to perform assigned
tasks or simply insufficient commitment to a common national and
military course by those at the frontlines.

“Many of those on whom the responsibility for physical actions
against the adversary squarely falls are yet to fully take
ownership of our common national or service cause. And this is the
reason why I have always ensured that the promotion of army
personnel is essentially based on professional considerations
only.

“But we all know that professional capacity is not a sufficient
condition to succeed in a task; willingness to perform the task is
equally necessary. We all know that leadership is core to military
professionalism; hence all military professional courses include
aspects of military leadership skills acquisition.”

Buratai added that an effect of modernisation, globalisation and
Information and Communications Technology in the last decades had
been the “decline in nationalistic enthusiasm.”

“Hence the theme of the workshop has been aptly chosen as ‘Lead,
follow or get out of the way,’” he said.

B’Haram attacks four army bases in one week

Buratai’s allegations might not be far from the truth as Boko
Haram fighters backed by the Islamic State West African Province
have attacked at least four Nigerian Army bases between last
Wednesday and Tuesday.

This has already been raising concerns among the troops of the
Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-East.

The army has lost a yet-to-be-ascertained number of soldiers
when Boko Haram fighters attacked its bases in the Mobbar, Damasak,
Monguno and Gajiram areas of Borno State.

Also, the acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir
Musa, has yet to confirm the number of casualties in any of the
attacks.

In the attacks on army bases by the insurgents within the last
one week, ammunition worth at least N20m was carted away by the
fighters.

On June 12, while the Democracy Day celebration was ongoing
nationwide, Boko Haram insurgents attacked a military location at
Kareto village in the Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno
State.

The terrorists reportedly killed the Commanding Officer of 158
Battalion and an undisclosed number of soldiers.

On Saturday, June 15, Boko Haram terrorists attacked another
troops’ location in Damasak, Borno State, during which an
unconfirmed number of soldiers were injured.

On Monday, the Boko Haram fighters attacked another military
base in Monguno, Borno State, killing at least five soldiers.

The terrorists reportedly invaded the location in many utility
vehicles in an attack, which occurred on Monday around 6pm.

Sources said before reinforcements came to Monguno, the
terrorists had made away with the military’s ammunition and set a
section of the base on fire.

On the same Monday, the terrorists in armoured trucks attacked
another army base in Gajiram in the Nganzai LGA of the state.

A source said the terrorists were in the area for almost five
hours and did not attack people who fled into the bushes or hid
indoors.

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