Nigerian soldiers sent to fight Boko Haram revolts

Nigerian soldiers sent to fight Boko Haram revolt against commanders

        As insurgents fired rockets into a busy marketplace in Nigeria’s northeast Saturday, killing as many as 31 people, the military’s control and composure in the volatile region continued to unspool.

The army has spent recent days trying to defuse a budding mutiny in its ranks; it relocated a general after soldiers revolted and fired on their superior inside the barracks.

The rebellious soldiers, already angry that they don’t have the necessary equipment to fight Boko Haram militants, blamed the general for unpopular orders that led to troops being ambushed and killed, a source close to the situation told us

One squadron was ambushed while returning from Chibok, an isolated town where Boko Haram — Islamist extremists whose name means “Western education is sin” — kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls a month ago.

“It was already dark. They wanted to spend the night in a friendly village but the general insisted they return that night,” said the source, an official stationed with the Nigerian police’s counter-terrorism squad in Maiduguri, where the soldiers revolted.

The soldiers obeyed and their convoy was attacked. The troops were in non-armoured vehicles, the official said.

When Major-General Ahmed Mohammed learned soldiers died in the ambush, “he showed no concern,” said the source, who asked not to be named for fear of being punished by his employer.

The bodies of the soldiers were ferried through the cantonment on their way to the morgue. Seeing their dead brethren, soldiers became enraged and fired at the general’s vehicle.

The general was not injured but has been redeployed. A military spokesperson said the army would discipline the unruly soldiers, emphasizing the tumult would not affect the ongoing war against Boko Haram.

“Let me assure you that the military will sustain the current tempo in the fight against insurgents,” Major-General Chris Olukolade told local media.

In its official statement, the military said four soldiers were killed. Troops in the barracks say the number was closer to 12, according to the source.

“What angers them — when soldiers die, the authorities will always reduce the number of casualties (it announces) to the barest minimum,” he said. “Why do they do that?”

The revolt happened in a barracks in Maiduguri, the capital and military headquarters for Borno state, the central battleground in Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram.

The insurgents have grown more fearsome in recent years, their weapons evolving from bows to rockets, machine guns and homemade bombs.

Soldiers have complained they are inadequately equipped to face such an enemy. Some checkpoints are missing basic supplies, such as water and sandbags.

Many soldiers have not been paid in weeks. They fear leaving the barracks for patrol in anything less than an armoured vehicle.

“They feel the government gives no concern about the safety of the foot soldiers,” the official said.

Mutinous or timid soldiers stationed in the northeast could be costly for the Nigerian government. In nearby Mali in 2012, a coup by soldiers, embittered in part over insufficient resources, allowed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to snatch up more land in the country’s Saharan north.

However, in a presentation Saturday before international delegates gathered in Paris to discuss Boko Haram, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan described at length his government’s efforts to eradicate the terrorist group.

“We have deployed about 20,000 troops to the area, intensified aerial surveillance, and strengthened local intelligence resources. We shall spare no effort, we shall explore every avenue, we shall turn every stone, to ensure the return of the girls to their families and that the terrorists are defeated,” he said.

Even with a yearlong state of emergency in place in three northeast states — a move Jonathan called necessary to enable troops to “operate more efficiently in the affected areas in order to gain victory” — Boko Haram has been able to move around fluidly.

On Saturday, militants — believed to be Boko Haram — attacked a popular market in Ngurofoye, near the town of Bama, a local police official said. They hurled explosives and fired indiscriminately as people fled. One rocket exploded at a popular “motopark,” where villagers pay for rides to neighbouring towns.

State media reported 31 people were killed, but the number may be higher, said resident Usman Adamu, who saw scores of victims carted off to the hospital.

Undermining the Nigerian military’s ability to pre-emptively stop the Boko Haram attacks are moles and sympathizers within their ranks, who tip off the militants of upcoming attacks. In 2012, President Jonathan was quoted in local media saying the terrorists had infiltrated the government — from the armed forces to the judiciary.

“The saboteurs in government, condoning terrorism by Boko Haram, you do not love this nation,” he said. “Those of you who leak secrets to Boko Haram do not love this nation.”