Soldiers speak from Sambisa Forest, proffer solutions to terrorism

 

Soldiers are the ones who bear the brunt. They are in the frontlines, battling daily with Boko Haram insurgents. They face the bullets, get hit and die in the war front. They are not happy.

Though they swore to protect, preserve and die for Nigeria, they are no longer happy carrying out their professional duties. In fact, announcement of the appointment of new service chiefs elicited wild jubilation and cheers from our gallant soldiers in the war front. They could not hide their anger against the retired service chiefs. Saturday Vanguard had an exhaustive telephone conversation with a cross section of Nigerian soldiers in the battle field in Borno and other endangered Northern states.

The interview which lasted for hours had unprecedented out pour of anger and curses against what was in place before new changes were made. Those interviewed sought strict anonymity so as not to be subjected to military order. Their expose is an agenda setting for the new service chiefs.

Excerpts:

APPOINTMENT OF SERVICE CHIEFS

One of the officers who spoke from Borno said “the appointment of the new service chiefs was long over due. It brings hope that there will be changes. Many of us are now full of expectations.

ALLEVIATING THE SUFFERING OF TROOPS ON THE FRONT LINE

They should provide the soldiers on the front line with full military kits, ranging from boots, camouflage uniform, ballistic helmet, fragmental jackets, night vision goggles, serviceable compass, amongst others as well as basic infantry, platoon and company weapons. Also, soldiers in front line should be rotated out of the battle field after a minimum period of six months interval to avoid battle fatigue or what you call ‘job monotony’ in civil parlance. This aspect is only on paper, but not in practice. It’s only the Navy and the Airforce that seem to keep to such policy. Imagine keeping a soldier in the theatre of operations for three to five years, yet if he is allowed to go on pass, it’s just once or twice in a year to see his family that he has left for a long time. It was only a former GOC of 7 Division, Maiduguri, General Victor Ezugwu who sympathized with the plight of soldiers on the front line and decided to increase the pass duration from seven days to 14 days and also shortened the interval from once a year to every 90 days (3months). That is, when you spend three mouths on ground, you are entitled to apply for a pass of 14 days to see your family and loved ones provided you don’t have any disciplinary case against you.

POLITICAL AND MILITARY LEADERSHIP

Another officer said: “Attention should be focused on the political and military leadership. This is against the backdrop of the fact, that in a democracy like ours where the military has subordinated itself to civil rule, it goes to show that, it’s the political class that calls the shot while the military leadership only executes. If there is sincerity of purpose and the political will on leadership, Boko Haram insurgency would have been a foregone conclusion by now. Even the sabotage you are talking about, it still boils down to sincerity of purpose. If the Government of the day is honest and sincere, all the moles that are crawling in high places would have been fished out and completely dealt with. But because some people in the corridors of power are feeding fat at the expense of others dying, that is why the war seems to be unending.”

OUR TRAVAILS

One other officer had this to say: “Soldiers combating Boko Haram confront a lot of difficulties. Napoleon Bonaparte once said that,”a soldier marches on his stomach”. If you are not properly fed, you will not have the stamina to carry your weapons and fight gallantly, let alone assisting a wounded colleague who has been shot. How do you exert strength to carry your colleague who is down? The only option you have is to abandon him at that point, which is very bad. You are fighting a battle and you are thinking of your family at home who are staying hungry simply because you have not been able to send them money. These are distractions that dampen the soldiers’ morale and a demoralized man can not give his best to fight effectively. At the end, the insurgents are winners by default.

USE OF EXPIRED BOMBS

“Another disturbing factor is the issue of giving expired bombs and ammunition to troops. Just imagine you, firing an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) to dozens or pockets of the insurgents only for the bomb to land but refused to explode and will only be bringing out smoke, what do you think will be your fate? For success to be achieved, we need to go down the roots to the least private soldier in the front line and address the above stated challenges. Pay the troops their allowance on time and ensure that modern equipment are supplied and very active, because what they normally do is to refurbish old and archaic weapons including battle tanks. We are witnesses to all these practices here in the front line. If not, how do you explain supposedly newly acquired artillery gun or Armour tank that cannot fire more than three bombs before you start to experience stoppages. Most times in the thick of the battle, your tank can neither fire nor move, at such critical times, before abandoning the tank and our commanding officer will order us to remove the firing pin to further render the gun useless in the hands of the insurgents while we look for alternative way of saving our lives.

WHERE FORMER SERVICE CHIEFS FAILED

The officers also spoke on what they felt made the former service chiefs to fail. Said one: “Failure in monitoring procurement of armaments and other platforms used in the fight against insurgency from the very stage funds are released to the last stage of purchase and test firing.

In summary, if the new service chiefs want to avoid the pitfalls of their predecessors in this regard, they should ensure no sacred cows exist, no matter how highly placed or connected. Officers and soldiers who have not been to North East since the beginning of this fight against Boko Haram insurgency should be deployed immediately without further delay. The records are there to show those of us that have served there both dead and alive. And those of us that God Almighty kept alive were given medals by the Army Authority.

WAY OUT

‘It’s not possible to completely end kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities, but it’s very possible to reduce it to the barest minimum. This is because globally, there is no country that is 100 percent crime free. Even the U.S, with all its sophisticated technology, still experiences some of these vices although at a minimal rate. That is why you don’t get to hear about it so often as is the case with us in the third world. But in the midst of all these, if we make concerted efforts and build a robust collaboration with other security agencies we can drastically curb or put this menace in check.