Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ade Adefuye, has criticised Washington for refusing to sell “lethal” weapons to ...
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Boko Haram using women, children as shields –Military
Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ade Adefuye, has criticised Washington for refusing to sell “lethal” weapons to the country to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.
Nigeria needs support to deliver the “killer punch”, not “light jabs” against the Boko Haram sect, Adefuye said. His comments came as the militants seized Mahia town.
The US has previously ruled out heavily arming the Nigerian military because of its alleged poor human rights record. US laws ban the sale of lethal weapons to countries whose military are accused of gross human rights abuses.
But Adefuye said the accusations were based on “half-truths”, rumours and exaggerated accounts, which were being spread by political opponents ahead of the elections.
“The US government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time,” Adefuye told members of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
“We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the US presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly,” he added.
The envoy said Boko Haram was Nigeria’s equivalent of the Islamic State group, and threatened the nation’s “territorial integrity.”
“There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch,” he said. “A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in times of adversity,” he added.
Meanwhile, the insurgents have been deploying human shield tactics to weaken government troops in the ongoing military operations in the North East just as the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has vowed to fight on and not disappoint Nigerians in this trying time. A top military source close to the DHQ, said that the Nigerian military was quite concerned about the prevailing tactics by Boko Haram, which entailed the use of women as human shields as well as children as child-soldiers by the insurgents, to weaken military operations.
The source also disclosed that the terrorists have resorted to recruiting, raping and killing some of their young captives who are reluctant to join them in their dastardly acts.
He said that it had been established that in most times, children and teenagers were forced to be in the forefront in the battle against Nigerian troops especially ambushes and suicide bombings. The source said that on several occasions, the Nigerian military has captured small children who had been forced to take up arms against the state with some of them behaving abnormally due to indoctrination and inducement and use of hard drugs.
“We are being cautious in abiding by the rules of engagement even when we are aware that the militants recruit children for spying on us and pushing them to engage in hostilities against innocent citizens and the troops.
“Most of the children, especially teenagers were recruited through abduction, kidnapping and enticement with money after which they undergo brainwashing and combat training. Those that are unwilling to cooperate are punished or summarily executed”, the source added.
The insurgents were said to have relied on the knowledge that Nigerian troops have a responsibility to observe strict rules of engagement and also avoid a situation whereby ordinary citizens caught in the middle of conflict will lose their lives.
“We have lost our men in the battlefield while we tried to avoid shooting children and teenagers who are forced to confront us. How do you expect us to arrest a child with a gun? Do we accord such an armed under aged combatant the status of a child deserving of protection under the rule of engagement?
“It may become inevitable that some collateral damages may be recorded if we get the order especially because Boko Haram elements were using civilians as human shields to continue to gain undue advantage in the current battle in the North East.
“However, much as troops are determined to avoid collateral damage, it has become inevitable to be decisive with armed underage combatants and female suicide bombers with the situation degenerating by the day. “The military will no longer tolerate a situation where insurgents use human shields to gain undue advantage especially now that majority of Nigerians have demanded that a full scale war be declared by government in response to Boko Haram,” the source stated. However, the DHQ, yesterday, said that it was not ready to disappoint Nigerians this moment, vowing to fight on even with the last soldier to defend nation’s territory.
The DHQ gave this position in Abuja at the Back to School Drive and distribution of relief materials to children and widows of fallen and wounded soldiers, coordinated by the Support Our Troops Foundation.
Director of Defence Information, DDI, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said all that the military required from the citizenry was support and encouragement which is the best and most potent morale booster. He commended the foundation led by its Chief Executive, Funmi Ogbue, for expressing solidarity with the troops at the frontline and those that have already paid the supreme price as well as the wounded Olukolade said that some members of the public misunderstand the military and were unconscious of the predicament of the troops fighting insurgents in the North East, which gave rise to unwarranted attacks and offensive comments.
He said in the midst of this misunderstanding, it was heartwarming that the Support Our Troops Foundation, a non-governmental and private organisation has come up to make a difference.
He said the DHQ has continued to follow the activities of the organisation and their comments on social media network, stressing that they were quite lifting to the spirit of the troops, urging others to follow suit as the military was making the sacrifices to make Nigeria a better place for all to live and prosper.
Commander of the Army Headquarters AHQ Garrison, Brig-Gen. Barry Ndiomu, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, COS, Brig-Gen. Bembela Raji, said that paying the supreme price in death and being maimed for life, were part of the challenges that troops faced in the course of the ongoing military operations in the North East.
He emphasised that the ongoing operations has led to a number of casualties on the side of the troops, emphasising on the needs for well meaning citizens to support their wives and children of the fallen troops. Bags of rice and school items amongst other packages, were presented to the children and wives of the deceased troops as well as those where maimed and whose military career are now over.
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