A Nigerian Army officer's open letter to his President
Hat tip to a WoTR commentary that identified the letter which was published in mid-December 2014, which is here in full:http://saharareporters.com/2014/12/1...tter-president
Here is Point 5 in full, with my highlight in bold:
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This brings me to a recent occurrence which is my main purpose of writing this letter. As I mentioned earlier, due to the failure of the authority to address issues that I made mentioned, when a unit is attacked and overran by the BH not because the soldiers are unable to fight, but lack of weapons, ammunitions and communications equipment, the soldiers on many occasions will ran away, and a commander cannot stand and fight alone as a result of this. Presently seventy percent of commanders in the NE are facing Court Martial due to the reasons mentioned. We the commanding officers are very worried over this development. This is because we many soon find our self as victims of this maladministration from our higher authorities.
On the assumption it is true the picture given is not a great surprise and amidst the comments are some gems too - in particular the one that asks where does Boko Haram get hundreds of Toyota Hilux trucks from, with ample petrol?
The WoTR commentary:http://warontherocks.com/2015/01/bes.../?singlepage=1
The north is becoming banal, there's fatigue with the story
omarali50 in a post six days ago asked:
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I am curious to know how it was covered IN Nigeria itself? I assume there was massive coverage in the press and on TV?
Thanks to SWJ Blog's pointer to a Canadian report 'Boko Haram, ISIS and al-Qaeda: how the jihadists compare; Nigeria's Boko Haram getting less attention' there is some help:
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Cdric Jourde, a West Africa expert at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, points out that in Lagos, Nigeria's and Africa's largest city, the newspapers don't have that much coverage of Boko Haram attacks either. Nigeria is a country divided between north and south, and the region where Boko Haram operates is the most remote, the poorest and the furthest away from Lagos and the south.
For people in the capital, the violence in the north is becoming banal, there's fatigue with the story, Jourde says.
The report has other points of note:http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/boko-ha...pare-1.2916265
NSA says: cowardly” soldiers who use “every excuse in this world
Now whether the Nigerian national security adviser, a former colonel, is telling the truth or it is fiction, one must ask should he say this amidst a war and in London.
So what did he say? Referring to the fall of Baga:
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.. this episode was “not something that anybody will be proud of....For anybody who has that much in store to say he is poorly armed or poorly equipped is being disingenuous to say the least,” he said. “Anybody who believes that he is not well armed, he is not telling the truth.
Unfortunately, we have a lot of cowards. There was a problem in the recruitment process – we all admit, that is all admitted. We have people who are using every excuse in this world not to fight. If you don’t want to fight, it’s not your fault: get out of the army. If you are there, there are certain things you are expected to do. For now, fighting is one of those things. If you don’t want to fight, don’t make excuses and say you are not armed, you are not equipped.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1136...ity-chief.html
Boko Haram’s Resiliency Spells Trouble for West Africa
Boko Haram’s Resiliency Spells Trouble for West Africa
Entry Excerpt:
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Small nation helps Africa's biggest nation
Yes Nigeria needs help, step forward Chad:
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On Thursday, neighboring Chad sent a warplane and troops that drove the extremists out of a northeastern Nigeria border town (Malum Fatori) in the first such act by foreign troops on Nigerian soil.
Link:http://www.pulse.me/ap/254100d2c6d94...06e317d893b78?
AP's bureau chief in Lagos explains
At last an explanation why the coverage is so limited. His account ends with:
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This may give a partial answer to those who have been wondering these past few weeks why Nigeria doesn't lead the news bulletins day after day after day. There's not just the regularity of the attacks - another Boko Haram atrocity in Nigeria isn't going to knock a rare one in Paris off the front pages internationally - but the relentless lack of certainty.
Increasingly we like neat packages of information, something easily understood, with arresting images, that can be summarised in 140 characters or a hashtag.
In the Boko Haram insurgency, there’s never a complete picture, just snippets of unimaginable horror and an attempt to fill in the gaps before bracing for the next attack.
Link:http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?...a#.VNZjTSxj7Ai
Softly, softly: the humanitarian schemes aimed at countering BH
Sounds grand doesn't it:
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Now the government and some private philanthropists are deliberately linking the two by rolling out schemes to provide economic opportunities and humanitarian support as antidotes to militancy.
The Presidential Initiative for Northeast Nigeria (PINE)
PINE is basically a Marshall Plan for the region, allocated US$25 million* for 2015. It links security to social and economic interventions in a classic hearts-and-minds “soft power” strategy. It promises “immediate relief to affected states in the northeast while putting the region on a strong footing for economic resurgence and long-term sustainable viability”, says an overview document.
According to PINE, an estimated 5.9 million people are affected by the crisis: 4 million are food insecure; 1.5 million are displaced (a higher figure than the government’s disaster agency, NEMA, uses); health facilities are closed; IDP host communities are stretched; and humanitarian access is severely limited. The violence has halted infrastructure projects, created massive unemployment and triggered the flight of skilled workers and traders south.
Link:http://www.irinnews.org/report/10110...m#.VNkAz0ZOLCQ
Personally this sounds more like a "finger in the dyke" long after BH punched a gap in the dyke.
BH Toyota 4x4 now plus 105mm gun(s)!
A short Boko Harem video (90 seconds) which features HMG / light cannon on trucks / jeeps and at least one 105mm Anglo-Italian pack howitzer in action, which I assume has been captured from the Nigerian Army (which has them):http://sendvid.com/xjne3w98
Wiki on the gun:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTO_Melara_Mod_56 and a short film showing how it is a pack:http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=867_1296317636
Nigeria gets PMC help from South Africa
A South African report on the convoluted context for:
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Beeld newspaper had reported that former SADF soldiers would form the core of a multinational team of private military experts, who were then en route to Nigeria, to help the NDF fight against Boko Haram militants. The 100-strong team had been tasked with training the Nigerian military to launch a massive campaign against the terrorist organisation.
They have been in country for a significant time already, involved in training some specialised NDF units. As per normal they are now deployed in an advisory capacity at the front. This includes being deployed with the NDF special forces, artillery, armour and infantry units on the ground. ‘Most of the gunships [Mi 24 Hinds] are being piloted by former SAAF members and they are flying a huge number of sorties, including nocturnal operations, with great success. There is also close involvement at HQ level, assisting in the planning of operations and the coordination / interpretation of the intelligence effort.
Link:http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/b...h-south-africa
Clear shades of the campaign in SW Africa / Namibia.
Rare access to former Boko Haram-held towns
An all too short report from NE Nigeria, including the town of Baga and an optimistic ending after the official Nigerian Army spokesman's portion. Film clip:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31902503
The transcript / report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31902549
Unlike recent, external reporting no mention of mercenaries let alone the regional partnership - poorer natiosn helping their rich neighbour.
Boko Haram exploits army's decline
In recent days I have spotted a few articles commenting on the apparent decline of Nigeria's military, made even clearer as I have stated before, as its poorer neighbours take the offensive.
This South African article is typical, except for this passage:
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In a small hospital in the Diffa region of southeastern Niger, a roomful of Nigerian soldiers wait patiently for medical workers to change their bandages. Their bullet wounds seep blood on to the floor of the whitewashed chamber. The air is heavy with the smell of disinfectant. These are just a handful of the roughly 300 Nigerian forces that retreated across the border in November 2014, after militant Islamist group Boko Haram attacked the town of Malam Fatori in Nigeria’s northeast.
Now, lying three to a bed in a foreign country, they are silent and defeated. A stronger image for the hopelessness hanging over the nation’s army could scarcely exist.
Link:http://mg.co.za/article/2015-03-19-b...armys-decline?
So Nigeria has left its wounded soldiers since November 2014 in another country's hospital, it is now March 2015 - an image of hopelessness is hardly strong enough.
Does this picture tell a story?
The photo came via Twitter from a Nigerian-American and with this text:
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Women in Maiduguri waiting for accreditation. There is no better evidence of rejection of BokoHaram
IIRC this city, Maiduguri, was surrounded by Boko Haram and under intermittent attack.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBLZrUEWgAEff6Q.jpg