Boko Haram's Attacks Scare Nigerian Soldiers
Following the incessant attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Kenneth Minimah, has revealed that some soldiers have abandoned the force due to the fear of the terrorists group Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Kenneth Minimah
Minimah, who made this revelation during a working tour of Lagos and its environs yesterday said: “Sometimes, journalists ask me questions, saying soldiers are deserting their jobs because they don’t want to be killed in the North East. I tell them yes, it is true. Desertion is part of war".
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"A real soldier is known when he is put in the warfront. The one who is not a soldier would run away and abandon his job. Our soldiers are recruited from the Nigerian society and, today, most people are not called to be soldiers, they joined because they are desperately in need of jobs."
“As long as there is war, there would continue to be desertion and there would continue to be recruitment. Since Alexander The Great, soldiers have been deserting. In the Second World War, there was desertion and even in the Nigeria Civil War, people deserted. It is only in peacetime that you don’t see people deserting. But those who volunteer to fight and defend their nation do not desert; they fight until there is victory.”
Lt.-Gen. Minimah, who condemned the actions of some soldiers deserting the Force for fear of engaging in a fight with the terrorist group Boko Haram, said such actions by the soldiers vividly showed that they joined the force for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, Minimah in a new communiqué issued through the Defence Headquarters on July 19 said: “The rising acts of indiscipline and unprofessional conduct by troops was unbecoming and charged Commanders at all levels to put a stop to it as the Nigerian Army was a professional organization.”
According to Minimah: "The upsurge in incidents of terrorism has shifted the focus of the general public to the Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Army".
The Nigerian Army have over the past months been under serious attacks by the Boko Haram sect with some of the soldiers killed, while others injured.
On July 19, it was reported that the soldiers had reportedly deserted Damboa following several attacks on the military base by the dreaded Boko Haram sect as attempts by soldiers to return to Damboa military base are said to have failed.
The insurgents took over the highway and continued to engage soldiers in ambush attacks which have forced them to return to Maiduguri on two occasions.
RELATED: 50 Terrorists, 12 Soldiers, Policemen Feared Killed In Borno Attacks
On July 5, it was reported that Boko Haram sect attacked a military base and police Station in Damboa Local Government area of Borno State killing no fewer than 12 soldiers.
On June 25, the suspected Boko Haram terrorists killed about 16 soldiers at a military block-post, Bulabulin Ngaura in Damboa LGA of Borno.
RELATED: 15 Soldiers Ambushed, Killed By Boko Haram
Source: Legit.ng
