Tag: boko haram

In this concluding part of our series on the war on terror, ADEKUNLE YUSUF examines the role of porous borders and why the hefty defence budgets in the last few years made no difference, among others.

It is a riddle that every responsive administration will want to solve. Like a modern-day paradox, the Nigerian military is suffering, perhaps, its worst arsenal depletion at a time the defence sector has enjoyed its heaviest allocations, prompting debates on what went wrong with the votes over the years. Apart from the $1 billion loan secured last year to prosecute the insurgency war by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, a whopping N3 trillion has been sunk into the military in the last five years, when the insurgency crisis reached the depths of despair. Yet, insecurity haunts the land, a development that has prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to raise a 13-member panel to dig into the country’s weapon procurement from 2007 todate.

According to the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent global resource on conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament, the war against terror in Nigeria has raised the country’s military expenditure to staggering levels in recent times, ranking it among the countries at war in Africa. Among other things, SIPRI said Nigeria’s security spending got bloated in the last five years, a time that coincided with the depolyment of soldiers in the anti-terrorism battle.

In its 2013 report, SIPRI adjudged Nigeria’s military spending as the sixth highest in Africa, adding that Africa’s most populous nation competed with the expenditures of countries like Algeria ($9.3 billion), South Africa ($4.4 billion), Angola ($4.1 billion), Morocco ($3.4 billion) and Libya ($2.9 billion).

Going by the yearly budgetary votes, the defence budget since 2008 when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua earmarked “N444.6 billion for security and the Niger Delta” has always received the lion’s share in appropriations. With a hefty N968.127 billion allocated to defence in 2014, constituting 20 per cent of N4.962 trillion budget for the year, Nigeria probably attempted to demonstrate its seriousness to curtail the insurgency  and overhaul its security apparatus.

The military spending, however, reached an unprecedented level in 2013, when former President Jonathan allocated N1.055 trillion to the sector. Even in 2012, N921 billion was appropriated for the defence sector, a decision that drew criticisms from the various segments of the society, especially from the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir el-Rufai, now the governor of Kaduna State. He was interrogated by security agents for his criticisms of the huge defence expenditures, which he said was shrouded in secrecy.

Worried that there was  no justification for the huge allocations, Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN)  joined the fray last year. Unhappy about the parlous state of the military’s preparedness in the face of escalating insurgency, Falana, who raised questions about the lack of transparency in  military expenditures, prodded the National Assembly to audit defence spendings in the last four years to ascertain what actually happened to the huge votes. Insisting that it will be in the interest of the country to find out what went wrong with  military allocations, he argued against the practice of sending ill-equipped troops to face terrorist.

He asked: “It is in a national daily today that whereas at some time we used to have about 250,000 soldiers and now they are barely 100,000 and they are ill-equipped and ill-motivated. This is an area that the government must address with urgency. I am disturbed to read this report, because in the last four years, over N3 trillion has been budgeted for the defence of the country, apart from the payment of allowances. What has happened to the funds?”

  Not done, the human rights’ crusader also urged the National Assembly to reject the request by the last administration to secure $1 billion loan to fight insurgency, until Nigerians got satisfactory explanations on  how previous budgets were applied.

“The request made by President Jonathan for approval of the Senate for a loan of $1 billion to fight the Boko Haram menace should be rejected in its entirety. Between 2010 and 2013, over N3 trillion was budgeted for defence. Under the Appropriation Bill signed into law on May 23 this year, 20 per cent of the entire N4.962 trillion budget (representing N968.127 billion) was earmarked for defence. The Senate should find out what happened to the defence vote in the middle of the year to warrant a supplementary budget of N160 billion,” Falana said.

Porous borders,difficult terrains

Even if the Federal Government  musters the political will to adequately equip the military and infuse more transparency into the disbursement of defence votes, other hurdles still stare the cnation in the face.

According to military pundits, the dreaded Sambisa Forest in Borno State, the Boko Haram stronghold, poses challenges to aerial search – unknown to members of the public. Part of the reasons for this is that the mysterious forest covers over 60,000 square kilometre (about 23,000 square miles), more than twice the size of Rwanda, a country peopled by estimated 10.5 million. The rebels,  familiar with the terrain of the weird forest,  could deplore their knowledge to maximum advantage, whereas, detecting and monitoring what goes on in the ‘evil’ enclave by conventional troops is herculean.

  Besides the difficulties posed by the topography, experts also believe a nexus exist between the twin-evil of terrorism/human trafficking and porous borders.

The immediate past Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), David Parradang, recently diagnosed the insecurity migraine afflicting the country, fingering the porous nature of the borders as one of the flaws.

Last year, while addressing the National Political Reform Conference Committee on Immigration, he said though the country has only 84 approved land border control posts, designated in the 1980s after the bloody Maitatsine riots, there are more than 1,400 illegal entry and exit points to Nigeria’s vast borders. The number of illegal routes is 100 times more than the approved routes. The NIS chief was not alone in his line of reasoning. Abba Moro, the immediate past Interior Minister, corroborated Parradang. Moro told a gathering that over 1,499 illegal and 84 legal  points have been officially identified as entry routes into the country. He was inadvertently acknowledging that the  porous nature of the border permits illicit transnational arms trafficking, among other national security headaches.

According to experts, who spoke with The Nation, porosity of the borders contributes to insurgency as illegal routes offer a lifeline to external support from transnational groups regarding arms and ammunition movement, training, radicalisation and funding of extremists. Investigations have shown that Nigeria has a land border of well over 4,000 square kilometres, running from Malaville, north of the Republic of Benin, stretching through Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno states and then to Cameroon, up till Mfon (Mfum) in Cross River State, bordering Cameroon.

Records show that Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon cover 1,690 kilometres in the East, Niger (1,497 kilometres) in the North, Benin (773 kilometres) in the West and Chad (87 kilometres) in the Northeast, so vast that it constitutes a nightmare for security agents to effectively police, thus making Nigeria a safe haven for terrorists, traffickers and criminals, who operate in the country and literally disappear into the thin air.

And to worsen the situation, most of the border areas are either mountainous or in the jungle, all having porosity as a common feature. For instance, in Adamawa State alone, there are just five control posts, but there are also over 80 illegal routes. Because of the leaky nature of these borders, locals in the border communities told The Nation that willing emigrants from Niger, Chad and Cameroon can venture into Nigeria through more than 10,000 unmanned routes since these routes have no gates that can make policing easy. According to them, it is through these unmanned borders that smugglers, peddlers, traffickers and insurgents troop into the country, unmolested, especially from Sudan, Central African Republic, Mali and Libya, among other African countries.

 Through hundreds of unmanned routes, it is gathered that people who know the terrains and routes can get in and out of the country from Cameroon alone in trucks and and unchecked luggage.

A similar challenge plagues the country at its borders in Borno State axis. In fact, of the 27 local government areas in the Northeast state, about nine are said to be directly connected with neighbouring countries through unmanned borders, with many of Nigerian villages serving as access routes. In the southern parts of the state, locals said it is easier to cross over to Cameroon from some remote villages and mountainous areas in Gwoza Local Government Area to do business than to come to Maiduguri, the state capital. At the height of insurgency, some Boko Haram victims that were recently released by Nigerian troops told The Nation that thousands of people crossed over to Cameroon without any hindrance, settling in Kirawa, Ashigashiya and Barawa communities. Many were also said to have mingled freely with the indigenes in communities such as Zaga, Fage, Bula Batube, Ngilewa, Kabbal Balram, Ngurno, Baga, Kawwa, Barwati, Bisagana, Arage, Mitile, Mallam Fatori, Kadi, Asagar, Gashagar, Foguwa and Galjiya, among others.

  However, even long before Boko Haram became a national problem, smuggling in the leaky borders had always been intractable, which successive administrations have had to grapple with. The problem had blocked  the implementation of many laudable economic policies in the past. Going by a recent World Bank report, a staggering N750 billion ($5 billion) worth of assorted goods are smuggled yearly into Nigeria through its borders with Benin Republic alone, representing about 15 per cent of the total smuggled goods through those routes. The same World Bank report also claims that over $400 million (N6 billion), representing about 25 per cent of the total  annual revenue collected by the Nigerians Customs Service (NCS), is lost through nefarious smuggling across the sub-regional borders. The migraine posed by the nation’s porous borders persists as a result of poor law enforcement and inadequate security manpower, compared to the vast areas to be policed. And as unchecked influx of persons and goods leaves the local manufacturing as well as the national economy with crippling consequences, it also undermines the security of the citizenry and internal tranquility aspirations.

  Unfortunately, the menace of leaky borders is not unknown to the authorities. David Mark, the immediate past Senate President, linked the influx of terrorists, mercenaries and other armed groups to the porous borders, saying an amendment of the Border Communities Development Bill would tighten security in the nation’s borders. He recalled that the border agency was created to improve the social and economic lives of Nigerians living in various settlements, villages and towns, spread across 21 states, but he said inadequate funding has largely paralysed the agency’s activities. Also, the former Chairman, Senate Joint Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, States and Local Government Administration, Senator Umaru Dahiru, advised that the border towns be put on the first line of defence against external threats and insecurity. He urged the executive arm of government to pay close attention to the border communities.

He said: “It has been argued that a large number of perpetrators of crimes in the country are not Nigerians but criminal elements, who take advantage of the country’s porous borders to migrate into the country to cause mayhem.

“There is the need to strengthen the borders to curb the menace of crime, infiltration and smuggling of small arms into our country.”

Sadly, nothing significant was achieved in this regard till the last administration left office on May 29.

War winnable with transparency, says U.S. official

A united States (U.S) official blamed the inability of troops to tame the Boko Haram extremists on lack of transparency in the disbursement of miliatry votes.
Speaking last year, the U.S. Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Sarah Sewall, berated what she described as lack of transparency in the application of security votes in the country.
She said: “Pervasive corruption undermines the government’s fight against Boko Haram. The Federal G overnment has one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest security budgets, with $5.8 billion dedicated to security in its proposed 2014 budget.
“Yet, corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram. Morale is low and desertions are common among soldiers in Nigeria’s 7th Army Division.
“For example, on May 14, 7th Division soldiers reportedly fired at their commander’s car, complaining that he had failed to ensure they received the necessary equipment. As this incident shows, Nigeria will need to seriously tackle corruption if it is to succeed in stamping out Boko Haram,” she said.

IF wishes were horses, President Goodluck Jonathan would not have left behind for his successor the Boko Haram insurgency. He vowed several times that the terrorists would be defeated by his administration. But, by the time he signed out on May 29, the  bombings and the orgies of killings  had not abated. Despite the huge budgets for defence in the last five years, including the $1b loan secured last year, the bloodletting has persisted, due to lack of transparency in the application of defence votes, leaving the war against terror fraught with obsolete equipment and ill-motivated personnel, reports ADEKUNLE YUSUF

It is a taboo of sorts, but few people probably saw it as one at the time. Hundreds of angry women and their children, who defied the curfew order, took to the streets to vent their spleen in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. As wives of soldiers, they protested that their spouses were ill-equipped to take on Boko Haram insurgents, let alone defeat them. Numbering about 300, the irate mothers and their over 500 children gathered at the gates of a military base where they made bon fires – all done to register their displeasure over their husbands’ deployment to the strongholds of Boko Haram to fight. After decrying the sending of their breadwinners to places they regarded as danger zones for soldiers, they recounted how their spouses were needlessly wasted. They said Boko Haram fighters were better equipped than the soldiers sent to fight them. That was August last year, when the timeline of Boko Haram carnage in the northeastern part of the country had assumed a frightening dimension.

 According to the protesters, in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents were semi-automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and modern Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs). Nigerian troops relied on out-of-fashion – mostly unserviceable –  tools.

Rahina Ali, wife of one of the soldiers, said the Nigerian Army lacked the requisite firepower to dislodge the insurgents, adding that “our husbands are always given inferior weapons while the Boko Haram terrorists have superior weapons.”

Another woman, Thabita John, even went ahead to proclaim: “No weapons for our husbands, no trip to Gwoza or any volatile place.

“We are tired of burying our loved ones”, she said.

 The strange protest, which was one of the series embarked upon last year by military officers’ wives, who seemed to have lost faith in the system, may not be uncalled for. It was an open secret that the military was hamstrung by obsolete facilities, among other challengesunder the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. But, the claim was often fiercely contested by both the military and political authorities. “The days of insurgents are numbered” was the routine assurance to Nigerians, until the last administration  bequeathed the problem to President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, with a change in the political leadership, a new wave of optimism seems to be swirling in the military.  Not only is a fresh strategy being explored in the onslaught against terror, with the Lake Chad Basin nations of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Republic of Benin responding with the 8,700 troops in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). The countries were taciturn in their commitment to the anti-terror war.

  Obsolete equipment, low  morale – how bad?

 The record shows that Nigeria, compared with its neighbours, boasts of overwhelming military prowess and strength. In terms of size, the country’s armed forces are capable of defending Nigeria’s territorial intergrity against any external threat and of even projecting power in the region, some military top brass told The Nation. The Nigerian Army alone – consisting of infantry, armour, artillery, engineers, signals, intelligence and other supports arms – is estimated to be about 100,000-strong, all ranks. The figure excludes latest recruitments. Similarly, the Nigerian Air Force and the Navy have about 20,000 and 10,000 – all ranks – respectively. Besides these three forces, Nigeria has a great advantage, having  a large pool of armed personnel in the police, the Nigerian Security and Defence Corps (NSCDC), among several other paramilitary forces that can be effectively deployed to perform peripheral duties in war situations.

 That is where the good news ends. According to Gobalsecurity.org, a leading site dedicated to defence, military weapons systems news and information on armed forces worldwide, the Nigerian military, arguably the largest in West Africa, is “significantly less capable than its size and equipment inventory would indicate.” This is because “a large percentage of the Army is capable of little more than basic defensive operations, and most of Nigeria’s ships and aircraft are inoperable” – no thanks to “a lack of investment in training, failure to maintain equipment and dwindling cooperation with Western forces has damaged Nigeria’s armed forces.

“As a large, complex organisation, the Nigerian military contains a number of contradictions, incongruities and internal disjunctions. At the same time, chronic under-resourcing has led to low operational readiness, lack of training, and relatively poor conditions of service.

“These problems, along with endemic corruption, have made the Nigerian military somewhat of a hollow giant resting on its reputation – more capable than any other force in the sub-region, but considerably less capable than it should be with tens of thousands of troops and a large stock of major weapons systems and other equipment. A high percentage of the heart of the force — the 60,000-soldier strong Army’s 25 infantry battalions — are capable of little more than basic defensive operations,” the Globalsecurity.org report further said.

As unflattering as it is, the report is not the only one that paints a damning picture about the  military capability. According to the 2015 report of the Global Firepower (GFP), which also provides data concerning today’s world military powers, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy, is ranked 41st out of 126 countries. The GFP ranks the most powerful militaries in the world based on multiple factors, including available manpower, total labour force, and access to strategic assets, among other criteria – without including nuclear assets in its calculations. At the African level, where Nigeria is ranked 4th, Egypt, a country of 80 million people, is rated number one. The second and third slots are occupied by Algeria and South Africa, in that order, while Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya Angola, and Niger complete remaining first ten positions in terms of military strength – also in that order.

Besides rating Nigeria 4th, GFP also credits it with an available manpower of 72 million, out of which 41 million are said to be fit for service annually. Of her estimated 177 million people, 3.5 million reach military service every year. However, in terms of arms and armament, Nigeria’s armed forces do not seem to enjoy much good news, as the estimated 177 million people they are paid to secure would have wanted. The GFP record shows that the Nigerian Army is estimated to have 363 tanks (light tanks and tank destroyers either wheeled or tracked), 1,420 Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), 25 Self-Propelled Guns (SPGs), 339 Towed Artillery, and 30 Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems (MLRSs).

And for the Nigeria Air Force, it has 96 aircrafts, going by the GFP’s index. This includes 10 fighters/interceptors, 42 transport aircrafts, 35 trainers aircrafts, 38 helicopters, and nine attack helicopters. Sadly, an Air Force that is expected to take on Boko Haram is credited with only 10 fixed-wing attack aircrafts, which are equipment used for counter-insurgency operations. Even the Nigerian Navy, which has pleaded over the years with successive governments for the provision of the right mix of platforms, does not fare any better. The GFP says the Navy has no aircraft carrier, no destroyers, no corvettes, and no submarines. To face Boko Haram, GFP says the Nigerian Navy has only two frigates, three marine warfare and 12 coastal defence craft.

Further investigations by The Nation showed that the Navy’s fleet is made up mostly of patrol and defense boats; no warships. It also does not have a submarine or an aircraft carrier needed to bring the activities of pirates and oil thieves to a halt, which would have probably saved the country the daily loss of about 400 thousand barrels of crude oil to thieves. But it has two Frigates-NNS Aradu and NNS Thunder; 51 Coastal Defense Crafts and two mine warfare, while all its helicopters belong to the training class. There are also NNS Aradu (F89), MEKO 360 Type H1 Frigate, built in Germany (inactive); NNS Thunder (F90), Hamilton class cutter/OPV, which was bought by the Navy after it was decommissioned by the United States (active).

In the Navy’s fleet is also another THUNDER-like ship from the US, NNS Okpabana, which is yet to arrive the country after its acquisition. There is NNS Centenary (F91), P18N Class OPV built in China, commissioned earlier this year and expected in Nigeria around July; a sister ship to NNS Centenary, which has been given fleet number F92, though it is still under construction and expected to be brought to Nigeria by the Chinese firm for completion at the Naval Dockyard in Port Harcourt. For Corvettes (small boats), the NN has NNS Dorina (F81), donated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); NNS Otobo (F82); NNS Erinomi (F83) and NNS Enymiri (F84). The Navy also has fast attack crafts or patrol boats and this category include: NNS Andoni (P100), a Seaward Defence Boat built in 2012 and the first platform to be constructed by the Navy at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard; NNS Ekpe (P178), NNS Damisa (P179) and NNS Agu (P180); NNS Siri (P181), NNS Ayam (P182) and NNS Ekun (P183); NNS Burutu (P174) and NNS Zaria. Its patrol cutter includes NNS Kyanwa (A 501); NNS Ologbo (A 502); NNS Nwamba (A 503); NNS Obula (A 504). Inshore Patrol Craft are Shaldag Class Patrol boats (five); Manta Class Patrol Boat. Minesweepers are NNS Ohue (M371) and NNS Barama (M372); Amphibious Ships-NNS Ambe; NNS Ofiom. Other classes include NNS Lana (A498); NNS Amariya; NNS Agungu (P156); NNS Yola (P166), among others.

It is however instructive that most of the vessels listed above are just occupying space. They are no longer sea worthy, while poor funding over the years forced the Navy to desist from deploying them to the sea. For example, NNS ARADU, which is Nigeria’s flagship and the only Frigate in the Navy’s fleet, is currently undergoing repairs after staying comatose for several years. The vessel, which is the first of the MEKO360 General Purpose frigates built by Blohm and Voss, Hamburg, Germany, was laid down in 1978, launched on January 25, 1980 and commissioned on February 20, 1982 by the Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s administration. Aradu was bought by the Shagari’s government, following the need to have a modern and sophisticated frigate to replace Nigerian Navy’s long-serving frigate, NNS Nigeria (decommissioned Obuma). The old lady, as NNS Nigeria was popularly known then, was fast becoming irrelevant in the fast-changing world of naval technology, as Nigerian Navy needed to reach blue waters with the appropriate ships in terms of firepower, extended operational range and enhanced surveillance capability. However, after 11 years of active operation in the Nigerian Navy, NNS Aradu also broke down in 1993 and was ashore for over 12 years – no thanks to the placement of military embargo on Nigeria during military era under the late Head of State, Gen Sani Abacha as the refusal of successive civilian administrations to approve funds for its repair. Therefore, with a workforce of 5.5 million merchant marine strength of 89, three major port terminals, 193,200 road coverage 3505 railway coverage, 54 serviceable airports, landmass of 923, 768km, coastline 853km, waterways 8,600 kilometre and shared border, 4,047 kilometre, security professionals say the military cannot but be overwhelmed in the firght against terrorism.

A check of facilities belonging to the Nigerian Navy units and formations in Lagos, undertaken by the  former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, was not too heart-warming – though renovation of equipment was ongoing in virtually all the units. Among the places visited were: the NNS BEECROFT; NNS QUORRA; Defence jetty; Naval Dockyard; Naval Ordinance Depot; Navy Reference Hospital; Underwater Warfare School; Joint Maritime Training Centre; NNS WEY and Naval Air Base. At the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, where ships are built or refurbished, The Nation observed that about five old ships are being refurbished and a new one in the class of the country’s first indigenous warship, NNS ANDONI, is also being constructed. At the Naval Air Base, it was observed that some of the helicopters that were grounded for years are currently being refurbished, now nearing completion. The Nation observed that several Agusta class helicopters, including a rescue aircraft belonging to NIMASA, are being maintained at the air base.

Going by the threats of piracy and other forms of terrorism, experts say the Agusta copters, which are basically training crafts, had become obsolate for current and future challenges. The Nation also observed at the Underwater Warfare School that some new tranches of equipment are being installed, with renovation ongoing in the facility. Despite the good news, it is also apparent that the Navy still lacks the right mix of vessels and needs more platforms, particularly Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in order to navigate the creeks and give illegal bunkering the much-needed hot chase. The defence jetty in Marina is in a state of disrepair. It has not received any attention in the last 20 years. Having caved, if the water currents are high,  the pavement may pose danger to the people. The facility could be mistaken for criminals’ hideouts but for the presence of military men, who keep watch at the decrepit premises.  The navy jetties, though, not as terrible as the defence jetties, also need urgent attention, because without good jetties, the Navy cannot carry out its responsibilities as a maritime force. Disturbed by the sight of the jetties, Obanikoro, who was recently on tour of the facilities, made an on-the-spot pledge that urgent attention would be given to rebuilding the jetties as well as rehabilitating the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC’s) training pool for greater efficiency.

But things may not be entirely bad for the armed forces. According to the Globasecurity.org, Nigeria armed forces, in all, between 2001 and 2008, entered into contractual agreements and/or taken delivery of the following: nine Mi-34 helicopters, six-35P gunships, Mi-24 gunships, four Mi-17 utility choppers, seven Agusta A109 Power helicopters, four Agusta A139 helicopters, 77 units of T-72 tanks, 16 units of AMX-30 tanks, 50 additional units of T-55 tanks, 67 units of MT-LB APC/IFVs, 193 units of Otokar Cobra APCs, 47 units of BTR-3 APCs, 18 units of BTR-70 APCs, 6 units of BTR-60 APCs (probably complimentary hardware from Russia), 18 units of Panhard M3 APCs, 70 additional units of 8X8 MOWAG APCs, 18 additional units of Oto Melara 105 mm howitzers, 23 additional units of Palmaria 155mm self-propelled howitzers, and 48 units of BOFORS Archer 155 mm gun-howitzers. The new administration of Buhari is also leaving no stone unturned in getting the military back to its glorious era in terms of training and ammunitions, among other things.