Navy, Air Force Displeased With Army’s Role in Boko Haram fight, Ex-CDS Details

• Former CDS Lucky Irabor says troops once relied on abandoned vehicles from the Civil War due to lack of functional military equipment
• He revealed that the Army-led coordination of Boko Haram operations created discontent among the Navy and Air Force
• Irabor also disclosed that then Borno Governor Kashim Shettima released construction trucks and tractors to help the military sustain operations

Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd.), has disclosed that at the height of Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram, troops were forced to rely on obsolete and abandoned military vehicles, some dating back to the Civil War era.

He revealed that the situation became so dire that the military had to improvise to keep operations running despite poor equipment and logistics.

Irabor details army-led Boko Haram coordination

Irabor made these revelations in his new book titled Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum, which details his personal experiences and reflections on the challenges faced during the counter-insurgency campaign, Punch reported.

According to him, the state of equipment in the North-East theatre was deplorable, leaving field commanders with little choice but to rebuild whatever assets they could find.

He recalled that the Army scavenged old and broken-down vehicles to reinforce its fighting capacity against the insurgents.

“It is worth noting that at a particular stage of operation, the Lafiya Dole theatre’s equipment disposition was deplorable. In order to boost the fighting capability of the forces, therefore, we resorted to scavenging dilapidated and abandoned vehicles,” Irabor wrote.

The former defence chief explained that he assigned Captain Mohammed Narogo to lead the recovery effort. The officer, according to him, managed to restore several old vehicles, including some used during the Nigerian Civil War.

Irabor said the initiative made a remarkable difference in maintaining the operational strength of the troops, leading him to recommend Narogo for commendation and promotion.

“I tasked Captain Mohammed Narogo with undertaking the responsibility, and he was ingenious in bringing back to service some of the vehicle wreckages. Some of the vehicles were those used during the Nigerian Civil War,” Irabor noted.

“The effort of the officer made a huge difference, and I recommended him for the Chief of Army Staff’s commendation award, as well as a special promotion to his current rank of major.”

Operation Lafiya Dole handled by army

He further revealed that the coordination of Operation Lafiya Dole was, at some point, handled solely by the Army Headquarters, which created unease within the Navy and Air Force commands.

The situation, he said, generated discontent among officers from the sister services who felt sidelined in the joint operation.

“In contrast to the provisions of the NDP, the coordination of the operation was undertaken by Army HQ at some point, such that the leadership of the other services (navy and air force), whose forces contributed to the operation felt uncomfortable with such an arrangement,” he wrote.

Irabor also disclosed that the then Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, stepped in to support the troops by releasing government-owned trucks and tractors originally meant for infrastructure and agricultural projects.

The governor’s intervention, he said, became vital in sustaining the logistics of the operation at a critical time.

NAF airstrikes eliminate dozens of terrorists

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that scores of insurgents had been killed in fresh Nigerian Air Force (NAF) airstrikes that destroyed a major terrorist hideout in Borno State.

The Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai carried out the operation after identifying a stronghold used by fighters in the Bula Madibale and Gezuwa area of the state.

NAF spokesperson Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said in a statement on Thursday that the strikes were conducted on Wednesday at about 10:50 a.m. following detailed surveillance.

Source: Legit.ng