Nigerian Soldiers Make Fresh Demand To Fight Boko Haram

Boko Haram with sophisticated weapons

In an apparent move to confirm speculations that the Nigerian soldiers are not well equipped to take on Boko Haram insurgents rampaging in the north-eastern part of the country, one of the soldiers has stated that they need more powerful weapons to confront the terrorists.

Speaking with Sky news early today, the soldier whose identity was masked for his own safety, said: “We are trying our best. People do not know what weapons the authorities give us to fight Boko Haram."

While adding that the weapons they are given do not work, the military operative stated that “They give us two magazines. We need more powerful weapons that we can use before the ammunition will finish”.

Also commenting on the allegation that Nigerian soldiers are ill-equipped to fight the Boko Haram sect, some villagers say they are frustrated by what appears to be a reluctance of the soldiers to fight.
“The army seems reluctant to take them (Boko Haram) on, so what can we do,” said Ali Hassan who spoke to Sky news from Maiduguri.

Nigerian Soldiers with inferior weapons

This latest reports seem baffling as two decades of Nigeria’s military was seen as a force of stability across the continent but now it struggles to keep security within its own borders as the Islamic insurgency kills thousands.

Analysts believe lack of investment in training, failure to maintain equipment and dwindling co-operation with Western forces has damaged Nigeria’s armed services, while in Boko Haram they face an increasingly well-armed, determined foe.

It could be recalled that the terror group abducted more than 200 secondary school girls in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, nearly a month ago. The military still appears to have no idea exactly where they are, but denies it lacks the capacity to get them back.

A retired colonel and former British military attachee to Nigeria, James Hall, said: “The Nigerian military is a shadow of what it’s reputed to have once been. “They’ve fallen apart.”

Unlike Nigerian peacekeepers in the 1990s, who were effective in curbing ethnic bloodshed in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Col. Hall said the Nigerian peacekeepers, who were in Mali last year, had to buy pick-up trucks and their armour kept breaking down. He added that the Nigerian peacekeepers spent a lot of time on base or manning checkpoints.

Source: Naij.com news