Aformer commander of the Nigerian Army Special Vehicle Plant in Bauchi, Brig. Gen. Aderinola Awodele (retd), has said that it is impossible for the military to totally eradicate the menace of the Boko Haram sect and Fulani herdsmen in the country.
Although Awodele commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for “technically degrading” the Boko Haram in the North East, he warned that members of the deadly sect might have been dispersed all over the country, making it difficult for security agencies to completely check their activities.
They do not have a unified head or command and it is very difficult to handle them
The retired Army top brass, while speaking in Osogbo on a programme monitored by our correspondent, said most of the Fulani herdsmen suspected of attacking and maiming innocent citizens across the country might be “leftover of the Boko Haram people, who have been driven from the North East.”
He noted that the herdsmen were an extension of the Boko Haram sect, adding that it would be difficult to defeat them because, “They do not have a unified head or command and it is very difficult to handle them.”
The former Army commander attributed the success recorded so far in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East to the focus and concentration on the objectives and the military experience and background of President Buhari.
Unlike Buhari, the retired Army officer said that the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan could not win the fight against insurgency because his government lacked sincerity in its efforts to wage war against the insurgent group.
He said, “It took President Buhari focus and concentration on the objectives to achieve the success in fighting insurgency in the North East.
What I mean by concentrating on the objectives is that when you are trying to fight against a contending force like the Boko Haram; one, the Boko Haram is not an organised force; they are faceless; they are not a defined or recognised nationhood; their interests, so to say, might be core religion, but it is beyond religion.
“So, the government (Federal) concentrates efforts in fighting these criminals but for the past administration, there was little reason in terms of constitution and sincerity to fight it.
President Buhari directed the military to move to Sambisa, which was not like that before. The whole military is there now.
Virtually all the commands of the Army stay there often and resources are on ground to tackle it. Also, the military background of President Buhari helped in the focus towards liberating Nigeria from insurgency.”
He added, “But the herdsmen are an extension of the Boko Haram. One way or the other, we call them enemies of the state. When you have people who don’t have a unified head or command, it is very difficult to handle them.
I don’t believe President Buhari is treating the fight against herdsmen with kid’s glove. You don’t know them (herdsmen); they walk about; they even go to markets.
“You can attempt to defeat them, but it is going to be difficult because they are dispersed all over the country.
They do not come from the same source. In fact, most of these people might not be Nigerians. Most of them might be left over of the Boko Haram people, who have been driven from the North East.”
