Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Two principal security officers that served during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan are now at each other’s jugular over whether appropriate weapons were bought by the administration for the Nigerian military to prosecute the Boko Haram war or whether nigerian soldiers were sufficiently equipped for the campaign.

Retired Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, the former Chief of Defence Staff, stirred the dust of controversy when he said publicly that the Nigerian military was ill-equipped for the battle.

Now, the former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) on Thursday seemed to say that Badeh did not get his facts right, which is quite absurd, as Badeh was the most senior military officer as chief of defence staff.

According to Sambo, the Jonathan administration acquired sophisticated weapons which helped the Nigerian Armed Forces recover many local governments that had been occupied by Boko Haram terrorists, especially in the past one year.

Badeh had during the pull out ceremony organized for him last week asserted that the reasons why the armed forces was unable to defeat Boko Haram, the insurgent group whose terrorist activities in the North East part of the country have led to death of over 50,000 Nigerians by some accounts was because the soldiers lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight the terrorists.

The former Chief of Defence Staff who was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari on 13 July also pointed out that refusal of some countries to sell weapons necessary to prosecute the war against Boko
Haram worsened the problem for the military.

But Sambo who has been under investigations over the management of funds budgeted for purchase of armaments during the Jonathan years told a different story to the website, PRNigeria which the military regularly uses to publicize its activities.

Sambo listed some of the sophisticated equipment bought for the military in the last one year of Jonathan’s administration to include Alpha jets, APCs, MRAP vehicles, advanced artillery pieces, assorted arms and ammunitions, highly sophisticated surveillance drones, T72.

According to him, the country also carried out modification of F7 supersonic jet fighters to
fit the purpose of the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.

“The armored tanks have comprehensive NBC protection system, just as we deployed Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that we bought and could withstand improvised explosive device (IED) attacks
and ambushes. The vehicles had protected our troops from the land mine
threats.

“We are glad that we also provided assorted Armoured Personnel Carriers to transport troops to the battlefield. They are armed for self-defence and to provide protection from attacks from shrapnel and
small arms fire.

“All these were acquired in the last one year after years of frustration by Western powers who denied us of the equipment and sabotage our efforts to acquire same from other sources which are
reasons for some delay in delivery,” PR Nigeria quoted Sambo as saying.

The website also quoted the former NSA as saying that some other arms already paid for by the previous administration are due to be delivered soon.

“It was unfortunate that some elements are frustrating the efforts as we even had to query some suppliers for delay in delivery of arms and ammunitions,”

Sambo also told PRNigeria that some of the equipment acquired were used to recover more than 22 local governments under Boko Haram terrorists and ensured that Shekau did not disrupt the 2015 election as he had threatened.

“Not only did we ensure that the elections were peaceful, Shekau has never spoken to threaten anyone again since then,” said the former NSA.

“In attempt to rubbish individuals for whatever reasons, political or otherwise, we should be careful not to rubbish sensitive institutions and their personnel that might still be in active the service.

“It is unfortunate that some elements hide under the cover of anonymity in the media to rubbish some of the sacrifices we made. They should the take the courage to come out publicly by identifying
themselves with their baseless allegations, ” Sambo said in obvious reactions to allegations of mismanagement of billions of naira budgeted for the purchase of weapons when he was in office.

Air Marshall Badeh is yet to post a response.

But it appears he was not the only one who held the view about the poor kitting of Nigerian troops in the North east. Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, former Chief of army staff, who also served contemporaneously with Sambo and Badeh, voiced out a similar view at his pull-out ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday.

“I was confronted with the decay in the service due to long periods of neglect the army had suffered,” he said.

“I am happy to state that the story is different today, and the situation is better than I met it. Today, the country is more secure and stable. The ability of Boko Haram terrorists to confront our security forces in open combat is virtually non-existent,” he stated.

May be the controversy was needless. It may be about the timing of the re-arming of the forces: it was an open secret that the Nigerian military was outgunned by Boko Haram for some time, until last February-March, when the insurgents were rolled back into Sambisa forest from the territory, the size of Belgium that they had occupied.