The Nation Newspaper

Tag: military

  • Tambuwal seeks advice on use of military

    Tambuwal seeks advice on use of military

    Amid growing concern of lawmakers on the deployment of military personnel for elections, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal yesterday opted to seek professional advice on the subject.

    Tambuwal halted a debate on a motion on military deployment for elections and directed the Committees on Justice, Judiciary and Business and Rules to appropriately advise him on the subject.

    His decision followed the objection of Sunday Karimi (PDP Kogi) to the motion by the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who sought a probe of the roles played by the military deployed in last June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    Gbajabiamila sought the House resolution calling on the Federal Government not to deploy military personnel during the general elections in compliance with the decision of the court.

    The Minority leader also asked the House to urge the Federal Government, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), military authority and stakeholders to obey the decision of the Federal High Court.

    He noted with dissatisfaction the deployment of military personnel in polling units for election purposes, contrary to Section 217 of the 1999 Constitution

    According to him, the maintenance of public safety and public order anywhere in Nigeria, including all polling units and wars during elections, was a constitutional function of the police under Sections 214 and 215 of the constitution.

    “We are aware of a secretly-recorded audio tape involving some personnel of the military, now in the public domain, revealing or suggesting how the election in Ekiti State was allegedly rigged.

    “It is also disturbing that the presence of military personnel in polling units and wards is capable of generating unwarranted apprehension that will scare away innocent citizens, thereby preventing them from peacefully and willfully exercising their franchise.”

    Karimi objected to the motion in a point of order, saying that reference could not be made to a subject that is under litigation.

    The Speaker cautioned his colleagues, saying “In view of the sensitivity of the matter and the unfolding political events in the country, I want us to take this matter very seriously.”

    Subsequently, he mandated the three committees to work on the motion and advised the House appropriately on the status of the subject.

  • Can we still trust the military?

    MY heart aches over what is happening in the military today. Our armed forces, which used to be the envy of their counterparts in sub-Sahara Africa,  have turned to something else. Our military, sorry to say, has become one of anything goes not because it does  not still have thoroughbred professionals in its rank, but because of its top echelon’s new found romance with the nation’s leaders.   I write with a heavy heart because I never thought that a day like this would come in the life of our military.

    What is happening in the military calls for concern. As stakeholders in the Nigerian project, we cannot afford to keep quiet while a few people are toying with one of the institutional fabrics that holds the nation together. We agree that for the military to function well, it must not distance itself from the corridors of power, but such relationship should not turn to that of master-servant. Its top brass must know where to draw the line so that the military does not become the foot soldier of the government of the day. Many believe that this is what is happening today.

    As an institution, the military is bigger than its leaders. It is even bigger than the sovereign leader, the president, who is its Commander-in-Chief (C-i-C)  because presidents come and go, but the military will remain forever. This is what our military leaders should bear in mind at this critical juncture of the nation’s life. Should we destroy the military  in order to help some people to realise their  inordinate ambition of retaining power? The military is there to protect democracy. At least, this is what the armed forces of nations, which appreciate democracy, do. Our military cannot afford to be different in this age and time.

    Despite its claim of impartiality, the truth is the military has not been  neutral in the countdown to the forthcoming general elections. It has been working hand in glove with the government, which fished for excuses in order to postpone the elections from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11. If the military does not know, I think we should let it know  that  the Jonathan administration used it  to get the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections. INEC was set for the elections despite its challenges with the ongoing  distribution of the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs).

    Those seeking polls postponement were initially asking that the elections be shifted because of INEC’s inability to ensure 100% distribution of the cards as if there is anywhere in the world where 100% distribution of voter’s card is achieved before elections.  National Security Adviser (NSA) Sabo Dasuki was among those seeking postponement on that ground. Having lost that argument, he came up with the issue of  insecurity in the Northeast. Insurgency has been part of Northeast since 1999, yet elections were held there in 2011 as noted by President Goodluck Jonathan during his media chat last week. If elections were held as scheduled in the Northeast in 2011, why can’t they hold as scheduled in 2015?

    The NSA does not have an answer to that, but to satisfy his masters, who do not want the elections to hold as scheduled for reasons best known to them, he came up with the insecurity gambit and the military brass fell for it.

    If the military had stood its ground the first in the series of elections would have been held last Saturday. The six-week postponement they got would soon run out and the elections will come and go, but the military’s role  will long be remembered and it may in future become a research topic. Although the military denies its involvement in politics, there is ample evidence that it is  neck deep in it. It was used to malign its former C-i-C, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, who is the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate during the orchestrated noise  over his school certificate. Now, it is being used to also abuse another  former C-i-C, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

    What is Obasanjo’s offence? He accused the military of plotting tenure elongation for Jonathan by using the insecurity ploy to get INEC to postpone the polls. In an unsigned statement posted on its website, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said Obasanjo’s unguarded utterances were becoming an embarrassment to the military. The DHQ took Obasanjo to the cleaners, saying : ‘’Much as the military desires to respect the old General and his views, it has become necessary to point out that his conduct…of late has fallen short of the standard of discipline expected of an individual who has had the privilege of service in the military and risen to the status of a general. The behaviour of General (Chief) Obasanjo has been so unbecoming and continues to constitute a serious embarrassment to the military…we feel constrained to remind the old General that the world has moved beyond that parochial and self adulating reasoning and mindset, which he seems stuck to.

    ‘’Indeed, he needs to be told that by virtue of their better training , exposure, education, assessment and environment the military personnel of today are already far beyond his level in their appreciation of democracy and its indispensability for the stable and prosperous society which Nigerians cherish’’. It is, however, curious that nobody signed the statement. It was like the June 23, 1993 statement annulling the June 12 election, which was not signed by the Babangida  administration  because it knew it was embarking on a wrong course of action. If the military knew that it had a strong case it would have signed that statement to prove that its heart is in what it is doing. How are we sure that it was not handed that statement by superior authority and asked to issue the release?

    The military has a lot of self cleansing to do. What does  it make of the revelations of Army Captain Sagir Koli, an Intelligence officer, who was lately of the 32 Artillery Brigade in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on how the military was used to rig the Ekiti State governorship election last June 21?  To borrow DHQ’s words, does that show a military that appreciates democracy and its indispensability for the stable and prosperous society which Nigerians cherish? Is that a military which conduct has not fallen short of expected standard and discipline? Is that a military which behaviour is not unbecoming? Koli was an insider, who knew all that transpired during the Ekiti poll. Because he cannot in good conscience continue to live a lie, he spilled the beans.

    As the captain rightly noted the military has a role to play in the sustenance of democracy. We agree with him totally. This is why the military should not be a party to the killing of democracy with the kind of rigging it purportedly lent support to during the Ekiti election. There is no gainsaying the fact that our democracy is in the military’s hands. If it thrives, it will be to its  glory, but if it fails, it will be to its eternal  shame.

  • Revealed: PDP’s plan to drag military into rigging plot

    ‘Insurgency may surface in Northwest’

    Another polls shift likely

    he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  appears determined to ensure the  military does its bidding during the March 28 and April 11 elections despite the condemnation of the Presidency and the military high command for the ignoble roles of soldiers in the June 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    The caucus of the party, The Nation learnt last night, met on February 9 in Abuja and agreed on how the military will either be used to intimidate voters and key opposition figures or get the rescheduled polls postponed again.

    The election would have been held on February 14 and 28. They were shifted because the Service Chiefs said they could not gurantee security – a stance that drew the criticisms of the Armed Forces.

    The only agenda of the meeting was a review of recent developments in the polity and the need to re-strategise, it was learnt.

    A source at the meeting said one of the sensitive issues discussed was how to use the military to create the impression that the security situation in the Northeast is still precarious and, therefore, not conducive for elections.

    The source said the meeting zeroed in on the Northwest , seen as the strongest base of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, and resolved that the zone be made unsafe for the elections .

    “What they plan to do here is to target markets,football viewing centres and motor parks for attacks , “ the source said.

    The idea, according to him, is to give the nation the impression that Boko Haram has relocated to the Northwest from the Northeast where the insurgents are being fought by a coalition of troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun and Niger.

    With the Northwest now target of attacks, the military will be prevailed upon to ask for another postponement of the election, citing as excuse the contrived security challenge in the zone.

    The Nation could, however, not confirm if the military has agreed to the plot. The source, who pleaded not to be named because of what he described as the sensitivity of the matter, however, said that President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP are determined to have their way and are not bothered about the consequences of their actions.

    Should this strategy fail and elections become imperative, soldiers will be deployed in the Northwest to arrest leading members of the APC as was the case in Ekiti State in the last governorship election. The meeting, attended  by PDP governors and other caucus members, resolved to compile the names of key APC members to be placed under security watch from now till the elections.

    The Nation learnt that the meeting also discussed how to discredit the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega.  INEC  and Jega , the meeting resolved, must be presented as incapable of conducting free and fair elections . To do this, the party must not relent on its opposition to the use of the Permanent Voter Card and card readers for the election, it was resolved.

    The meeting also resolved that the PDP must sustain its campaign against Gen. Buhari, “who must be discredited and all means used to douse his popularity”.

    In the Northeast, voters must be scared from voting so as to “ depopulate the APC.

    “This strategy has been criticised by APC’s spokesman Lai Mohammed who accused the PDP of dropping leaflets in strategic places in Gombe, warning voters not to show up for the elections.

    It was learnt that the meeting, blamed the party’s Presidential Campaign Committee( PCC) , headed by Dr. Ahmad’s Ali , for the low turnout at many of the rallies.

    “It was clear from the discussion that the main concern of those present is the votes of  Northwest which they believe the APC candidate will sweep in a free and fair contest, “ the source said . “  They are determined to deny him this block vote, “ he added.

    The Northwest, Northcentral and Northeast have a combined voters’ strengthe of 37,120,011. The Northwest alone accounts for 18,616,499 voters.  This is more than the Northeast’s figure of 10,447,510. The Northcentral has 8,056,002. The APC and its candidate enjoy huge support in the Northwest. This, said a source, is disturbing to the PDP which is ready to decinate the APC’s hold in the geopolitical zone.

    The defection of Governor Aliyu Wammako, who is a “grassroots politician and games master”, and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to APC has made a mess of the electoral fortunes of PDP in the caliphate. The dilemma of the ruling party heightened with the persistent crisis in the PDP over the choice of a governorship candidate. Sokoto State Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shehu Shagari, who has been the unifying factor of the party, was denied the ticket, leaving room for protest votes. Vice-President Namadi Sambo has gone to Sokoto for reconciliation but the warring factions remain adamant.  Sokoto is a natural political habitat of Gen. Buhari, who scored 540, 769 to Jonathan’s 309, 057 when PDP was intact.

    To shore up its image, the PDP wooed ex-Governor Attahiru Bafarawa to its side but he is yet to add value to the party till date. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), is also under pressure to return his state to the ruling party. Though not a politician, Col. Dasuki could wield influence in the ruling party.

    The imposition of a former Coordinator of the Counter Terrorism Centre in the Presidency, Maj-Gen Sarki Yaki Bello (Kebbi Central) as the party’s governorship candidate has become an albatross for PDP in the state. Governor Saidu Dakingari cannot deliver the state to Jonathan, going by the gale of defections from the PDP to the APC. Although the state voted for Gen. Buhari by 501,453 to Jonathan’s 369, 198 in 2011, PDP’s rating has fallen drastically.

    The APC has the sympathy of the likes of the political godfather of the state, ex-Governor Adamu Aliero; ex-Secretary to the State Government Ahmed Samma; Dr. Yahaya Aliyu; Malam Bukhari Bello; Dr. Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi, Abubakar Atiku Bunu, Abubakar Chika Malami, Ahmed Mohammed Sama, Salihu Isah Nataro, Bala Musa Sakaba, Mohammed Nasir Sala Koko, Sadeeq Sule Iko-Sami, Suleiman Mohammed Argungu, ex-Military Administrator Col. Inuwa Bawa and Sadiq Yelwa, among others.

    Complacency and intra-party wranglings were the lot of the defunct CPC in Katsina State in 2011. But, even at that, Gen. Buhari earned 1, 163, 919 votes to beat Jonathan with 428, 392. If PDP has anything to salvage its image, it is the record performance of Governor Ibrahim Shema. Yet, with the cult following of Gen. Buhari, he will still defeat the President again without blinking an eye. The people of Katsina are desirous of returning power to the state following the death of ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua in May 2010. Gen. Buhari’s luck is brightened by the support from the Yar’Aduas and their loyalists in the state.

    Kaduna is a familiar battleground where Vice-President Namadi Sambo is spiritedly struggling to deliver to prove critics wrong that he is a paperweight politician. Without Permanent Voter Cards in 2011, Jonathan-Sambo secured 1,190, 179 votes to lose the state to Gen. Buhari, who polled 1,334, 244.  The defections of Suleiman Hunkuyi and some die-hard supporters of ex-Governor Ahmed Makarfi may deplete the votes of PDP. The emergence of ex-Minister of FCT Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and the anger of the people of Southern Kaduna against Governor Ramalan Yero over the incessant killings in their area by gunmen have created electoral obstacles for PDP in the state. Most supporters of the late Governor Patrick Yakowa are unhappy with Yero’s style for allegedly not creating a sense of belonging for all. The removal of the former Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu (a Southerner from Kaduna) has fuelled the anger against PDP.

    With the political sagacity and organisational ability of Governor Sule Lamido, Buhari still defeated Jonathan  in 2011 with 663,994 to 419, 252. The 2015 scenario is more interesting in Jigawa State as the governor is only keen on how to retain PDP’s control of all elective offices, except the presidency. It is also difficult to place Lamido who also recently abused Buhari and other key opposition leaders.

    A few weeks ago, Lamido rejected his appointment as the Northwest Coordinator for Jonathan’s campaign because he was not consulted before the appointment was made public. Apart from being angry about the arrest of his son for money laundering, Lamido is also unhappy with the ongoing public spat between President Jonathan and his political godfather, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. Given the choice any day, Lamido will pitch his tent with Obasanjo. He has consistently said Jonathan is yet to redeem the promises he made to the people of the state in 2011.  Jigawa is an open electoral mine for Jonathan and Buhari to explore. But Buhari has mass followership in the state. He is likely to gain more votes.

    Kano is another Northwest electoral enclave of Gen. Buhari who got 1,624, 543 votes in 2011 to Jonathan’s 440,000. The defection of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to APC and his growing political popularity (having come second to Gen. Buhari at the APC presidential primaries) have weakened the PDP further. Expectedly, the PDP played a fast one to draw ex-Governor of Kano State Ibrahim Shekarau to its side to curtail the influence of the APC.

    But nothing has changed as Kwankwassiyya (the nickname for Kwankwaso’s political ideology) is the rave of the moment. Shekarau cannot confront Buhari and Kwankwaso at the same time and win. He was a beneficiary of Buhari’s mass support base in 2003 and 2007. INEC records confirmed that Shekarau got 917, 012 votes (2.40%) as a presidential candidate in 2011 of the 38, 209, 978 votes cast. Other factors against Jonathan in Kano are the Boko Haram insurgency, which is the state, the Presidency’s face-off with ex-CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the gang-up of Kano elites against PDP.

    A source added that the plan to use the military to cut APC to size in the Northwest will take the same format as was used in Ekiti State, where the commander of an army division was detailed to work with PDP agents to ensure the emergence of Mr. Ayo Fayose as governor. It will involve the arrest and intimidation of key APC chiefs in various parts of the country.

  • Who cares?

    While the military-induced shift in the elections by six weeks is increasingly looking like a minor part of a long but complex play, one aspect that seems to have escaped attention is the economic, human and institutional dimensions of the unfolding plot. Six weeks, ordinarily is supposed to be nothing in the life of a nation. Indeed, merely by the assurances of the military’s top brass to whom the nation’s chief steward has outsourced his primary function as commander-in-chief, the nation is being offered a dubious respite from the insurgency in the North-east.

    Win or lose the war in the North-east, the truth is that the end to our nightmares is nowhere yet in sight. Once the country was described as under-governed, what we have in place at the moment is total abdication. I once described the Jonathan presidency as outsourced only because I was short of words to describe the flight by the Team Leader; today, we neither have a team nor anyone in charge. However, while it seems convenient for our steward of state to abandon state duties to the exigency of tenure renewal, the systematic co-optation of state institutions into the electoral project under his direct supervision would come to the greatest irony of all time. I will return to this issue shortly.

    Talking about the poll shift, I guess it is no accident that the support for the measure has been loudest among the beleaguered parasitic throng infesting the presidency. The motivations of the legion that have long mastered the art of making wealth without breaking a sweat should not be hard to understand; the perfidious club would rather keep the flush funds flowing under the regime of unearned wealth, till kingdom come.

    Of course, you can hardly say the same of, for instance, a Dangote, whose wealth under the floundering administration continues to dissipate. Only recently, Forbes reported Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, as losing more than $7.8 billion of his fortune in the wake of the latest plunge in the nation’s capital market. His net worth as at November 7, 2014 was put at $21.6 billion. His entire fortune is currently said to be around $17.2 billion! Whereas Forbes puts the negative trend to: “a general uncertainty regarding the 2015 general elections, Central Bank regulatory headwinds, and weak earnings from large cap companies”, I put it to state-induced uncertainty designed to generate a mad scramble for Abuja’s crumbs!

    And that is supposed to be one individual’s loss. Can one possibly compute the cost of the postponement to millions of families across the federation? I write here of programmes forced to be put off; meetings that have to rescheduled and the countless other opportunities scuttled – all because Jonathan and his PDP are suddenly allergic to elections?  Does anyone care? What about President Jonathan; does he care – at least not when, in his own words, all his campaign expenses are underwritten by the nation’s treasury?

    In spite of the dark ominous clouds, I see Divine hands at work. How? I will explain.

    Doubtless, the nation is already as fractured as can be along the traditional fault-lines of religion and ethnicity. All across the land – no thanks to the PDP’s mantra of the-end-justify-the-meanness – so palpable has been the curtain of mutual distrust across religious and ethnic lines that everyone now seems to appreciate that it would require an ultra-nationalist to heal the deep wounds inflicted by Jonathan and his men.

    You ask me of the good in this? I say it is in the recognition that the nation currently has a big task of retrieving its destiny from the band of opportunistic wayfarers! I consider that as a significant step forward. On those issues, it seems inevitable that the party would burn itself out sooner than later. Having succeeded up to a point in their play of the opportunistic card of religion and ethnicity, the signs from the wearied citizens would seem to suggest that their days of reckoning is here at last!

    This is even more so in the economic sphere. Today, the dip in oil prices has since become an alibi for the incompetent administration to explain its glaring failures across the board. Never mind that the plunge in oil prices is barely two months old; how does one explain an economy once deemed as resilient and impregnable like the Titanic succumbing only few weeks after the oil price plunge?

    Presently, virtually all the indices on which the administration has hinged its claims to superlative performance have continued to unravel right before our very eyes: not only is the naira doing yoyo, down the road, the industrial and manufacturing sectors are already under intense strains – not from the traditional sources of inclement operating environment, but from the ill-effects of unmanaged or unmanageable exchange rate fluctuations. And just as one would expect that that high exchange rate would drive up costs; the threat of possible cut-back in industrial/manufacturing capacity has since become one that we must worry even in the near term. That threat has become so real and with it the grim likelihood of factory closures and massive lay-offs that the nation can ignore it at great costs.

    Trust the administration to choose the difficult time to go AWOL – thereby giving the band of speculators full reign! Guess it’s time to ask – who are those forces fuelling foreign exchange demand? In other words, who are the demanders of forex and to what purpose? A clear answer to the above would obviously reveal a lot that the administration would rather not let Nigerians into. However, it suffices to say that the answer would, at least in part, explain the laissez-faire activities that has left the economy floundering. It is just as well that the administration has suddenly become subdued or less exuberant in its claims of achievement. Guess it’s a measure of the extent to which its inelegantly constructed castle has gone up like the smoke!

    Back to the issue of the President’s cooptation of state institutions to his electoral project. By now, Nigerians must be sufficiently embarrassed by the revelations emerging from the farce that the Ekiti gubernatorial election has turned out to be. Of course, we have since heard that the Ekiti template was also deployed in Osun – although with limited success. Today, an Assistant General of Police, Joseph Mbu has been telling all who cared to listen that he is neither answerable to the constitution nor the laws of the country but his taskmasters in Abuja. That for me is the limit of state regression – an supossedly organised society in free fall.

  • PDP, military and audacity of impunity

    The curious union between the ruling People Democratic Party, (PDP) and the Nigerian military is one that should bother every well meaning Nigerian. The unfolding drama of the absurd, which has led to a shift in the much anticipated general elections, certainly poses great threat to the advancement of the cause of democracy in the country. It is one that calls for extreme vigilance by all Nigerians as the current thickening plot and ploy to subvert  the hard-earned democracy in the country is, in every sense, akin to what was experienced in the run off to the abortive June 12,1993 presidential election and the eventual termination of the Third Republic. One is worried that the desperation and power-drunken tendencies which is our president is now exhibiting may set us back and make us suffer another round of socio-political disorder as was experienced during the June 12 debacle.

    This is because never in the history of the country’s democracy has the military become so overtly partisan as it is currently doing. It is a strange development in our democratic voyage that the military will be covertly involved in a ploy to blackmail an electoral body into putting off an election some days to it on the account that it cannot guarantee security. It sounds ridiculous and unbelievable, but it actually happened that a sitting president superintended the passing of “vote of no confidence” on his own government as its security institutions declared that they cannot guarantee the security of Nigerians. It is sufficiently nauseating that professionalism and morale in the Nigerian military have sunk to an all time low under the Jonathan government. One finds it quite ludicrous and treacherous that our President and his party are doing everything to drag the leadership of the military into their deadly game of evil political manipulation.

    Before now, the trend used to set Nigeria back was a heinous alliance between the PDP-led federal government and the police, with the intent of intimidating and harassing perceived political opponents. But now, with the way things are, it is glaring that the PDP is not satisfied with compromising the integrity of the Nigerian police. The military and all other security agencies have, stylishly, been dragged into their grand plan to perpetuate the party in power for 50 years as once predicted by one of its former chairmen. The signs are ominous and makes me wonder if Jonathan and his selfish collaborators are really considering the negative implication of this on our nationhood.

    The noxious union between the PDP-led federal government and the military top hierarchy is one that could actually jeopardise our democracy. This is why one finds it baffling that those who ought to read between line and promptly act as conscience of the nation seem not to really see any need for such. It is only hoped that it won’t be too late by the time all of us wake up from our slumber because things may then have gotten out of hand.

    It is scary that the PDP-led government has started to clamp down on perceived enemies and those seen as thorns in their flesh in its desperation to scuttle this democracy.  Latest report has it that soldiers are laying siege at the Ikoyi home of the national leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Also, it was widely reported that a military team stormed the Imo State Government House in Owerri, deploying an armoured tank. The two incidents readily strengthened the fear of an imminent militarization on some political figures perceived by the PDP as the engine room of the opposition. It is rather sad and ironic that the PDP and its military collaborators, who have found it difficult for six years to dislodge the Boko Haram insurgents in the North, are now shamelessly flexing muscles against unarmed opposition arrowheads.

    Come to think of it, why has the military and the PDP not extended their current onslaught against opposition leaders to prominent Niger Delta leaders as well as ex-militants who have been threatening to bring down the nation if President Jonathan is voted out of power? In the first place, why bring in soldiers to harass civilians whose only weapon is the rule of law? Why expose such a dignified and universally respected institution, as the military, to such open ridicule?

    Thank God it is now coming out quite clearly for all to see, that President Jonathan is nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. What we presently have on our hand is the manifestation of a despot. Yes, President Jonathan has finally bared his fangs. He has put off the deceiving garb of a gentle, harmless, innocent and shoeless next door guy. He has now come out in his real colour and, in the words of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, he might, indeed, be going for the broke and ready to damn the consequence. But, one really hopes he doesn’t toe such self-destructive and ignoble path because history has never been kind to those who once toed such pathway. One expects the president to know that destroying the integrity of the military to achieve parochial political ends only portrays him and the PDP as desperate co-travelers who could go to any dastardly extent to cling on to power.

    There is, perhaps, nothing that best demonstrate the scope of the damage which the PDP-led federal government has done to the image of the Nigerian military more than the recent Ekiti poll audio recording of the meeting purportedly held in Ado Ekiti between PDP chieftains and one General Momoh to perfect the rigging plot for the June 21, 2014, governorship election in the state. In the said audio recording, which was posted by online medium, Sahara Reporters, it was revealed that General Momoh was deployed by the military top brass to abet the rigging plan, using soldiers already positioned into the state for the purpose.

    When one adds up the recent clampdown by men of the State Security Service on the data office of the APC and its staff in Ikeja, Lagos, to all the aforementioned, it would definitely become evident, to dispassionate watchers of the unfolding political scenario in the country, that the greatest threat to our democracy today is the shameful marriage between the PDP-led federal government and the leadership of the Nigerian military. No amount of denials and deceptions by the President and his men would fool Nigerians into believing that the military leadership wasn’t compromised in the poll shift agenda. It was a coup that was plotted and executed by the Presidency and the PDP with the active collaboration of the military leadership. It will be recalled that the president’s National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, had initially flown the kite of an impending shift in poll. And it eventually happened!

    The Nigerian military needs to quickly detach itself from this unwholly alliance so as not to, in the language of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, bring about “degradation in the proficiency of the military”.  Hopefully, it will not be too long before the Nigerian military is saved from the suffocating arms of the PDP. Very soon, change will come. Very soon, the Nigerian military would have a feel of the much needed breath of fresh air. Very soon, we shall all heave a great sigh of relief.

  • Group urges military to stay off electoral process

    Nigerians will resist any attempt to extend President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said.

    The Forum also urged the military to keep off the electoral process but rise to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity.

    “It is time for our military to stand behind the people and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which they have sworn to protect,” the group said.

    The ACF position was part of the resolutions made at the end of the joint meeting of its Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kaduna yesterday.

    In a communique issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the NEC Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, a retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the ACF reaffirmed its faith and commitment to the democratic process.

    It said the rescheduled March 28 and April 11 dates for the general elections remain sacrosanct and inviolate.

    The communiqué reads: “The re-scheduled elections of March 28 and April 11 must take place and produce credible results. Under whatever circumstances, no attempt from any quarter should be made to interfere with the elections.

    “We view any threat or intimidation against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an attempt to further cripple its integrity and credibility of the elections.

    “INEC must also realise that it holds the future of this nation in its hands. There is a historic opportunity for the Chairman and Commissioners of the Commission to salvage the present dangerous situation in which our nation finds itself.

    “That ACF irrevocably rejects any attempt to subvert the constitution and that no arrangement which violates the electoral Act or the constitution will be accepted by Nigerians.

    “In particular, the suggestion of an Interim National Government that violates the Constitution must not be actualised.

    “Similarly, attempts to prolong the life of this administration using the cover of national security will be resisted by Nigerians.

    “In this respect, we strongly appeal to the National Assembly to resist any attempt to be used in violating the rights of Nigerians to live under the Constitution.

    “We urge all Nigerians, particularly those in privileged positions of leadership on the need to support a peaceful conduct of the March/April elections and ensure that they are free, fair and credible.

    “Losers should also accept the result and ensure a peaceful handover on May 29th. We look forward to an administration that will reverse the damaging politicisation of the public service, the police, the judiciary and the electoral process.

    “We note that this administration has dragged the military into the electoral process for which they have no constitutional responsibility.

    “ACF therefore, demands that the military be kept out of the electoral process. The only security requirement in the electoral process is the maintenance of law and order, which is the constitutional responsibility of the Nigerian Police Force(NPF) which the Inspector General of Police has already indicated not only his capability but his preparedness.

    “ACF notes with disappointment threats from some elements in the Niger Delta that they will unleash mayhem on the rest of the country if the March/April elections do not produce the result they want.

    “ACF is not intimidated by this. It is regrettable to observe that up till now security agencies have refused to arrest those threatening the nation and beating the drums of war.

    “We therefore urge them to immediately discharge their constitutional responsibility by arresting and prosecuting those who make such threats. The Attorney-General of the Federation should particularly note this.

    “We appeal to the international community to maintain its vigil on events leading to the scheduled elections and sustain the pressure on the Government to honour its pledge to allow the elections to hold.

    “We also appeal to leaders of regional groups, civil society organisations and leaders of communities at all levels to rally Nigerians to defend and protect our democracy and ensure that elections take place in March /April.

    “We invite the attention of the Nigerian Military to its hallowed and constitutional duty to protect the peace, security and survival of our fatherland. This is the time for our military to stand behind the people and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which they have sworn to protect.”

    The communiqué also rejects the allegation that the ACF was in secret alliance with INEC to rig the presidential election in favour of a northern candidate.

    “ACF rejects the allegation that it had a meeting with the Chairman or any member of INEC This is not true and is baseless. ACF has instructed its lawyers to look into the matter and take appropriate legal action,” the communiqué said.

  • PDP, military in ‘unholy’ alliance – Oyegun

    PDP, military in ‘unholy’ alliance – Oyegun

    We’re neutral, says Defence

    NSA: March 28, April 11 stand

    Another shift of the general elections is in the smithy, All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun alleged yesterday.

    It is all in a bid to spark a constitutional crisis and subvert the will of the people, Odigie-Oyegun said.

    His proof – a secret memo from the Presidency to the military, inviting officers to a conference in Kaduna, allegedly on how to intimidate the electorate in APC-controlled states and rig the elections.

    Odigie-Oyegun accused the Military High Command of being in an “unholy”  and “dangerous” alliance with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to subvert the people’s democratic will. The Defence Headquarters denied it all.

    The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade said: “We are not involved in politics and they should not drag us into it.

    “Kaduna is a training base for the military. There could be a lot of seminars,  workshops and other forms of training, which will make officers and men to perform better. They should not give it political colouration.

    “We will remain non-partisan, we shouldn’t be dragged into politics.”

    The APC chair spoke at a briefing in Abuja, which was attended by four governors, a deputy governor and top leaders of the party.

    He said the Service Chiefs had included “at least six weeks” in their letter to INEC demanding the postponement of the general elections. The elections were moved from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.

    Odigie-Oyegun said: “It is important to note that the Service Chiefs’ letter to INEC demanded postponement for ‘at least’ six weeks. This, we must note, is a booby trap. Embedded in that phrase ‘at least’ is a window to push for another postponement. It is clear, however, that any further postponement can only lead to a constitutional crisis. The constitution demands at least 30 days before the handover date of May 29th.

    “We have strong suspicions but hope this postponement is not part of an agenda to create a constitutional crisis in the country. We are just recently recovering from the crisis precipitated by the political crisis of 1993. We cannot afford another.

    ”We are all witnesses to the way INEC was intimidated into postponement of the elections despite repeated assurances of its readiness. We are aware of plans for worse intimidation in the days ahead.

    “We are aware of plans to intimidate and orchestrate arrest of our leaders across the country on frivolous grounds. We are now aware of how PDP used intimidation and arrest to rig the last governorship election in Ekiti State.

    “We are aware that this is the plan of the PDP. But we have no doubt that Nigerians will stand up to this. We have no doubt that the international community is watching.”

    Odigie-Oyegun accused the Presidency of writing a secret memo to all divisions of the Army on how to intimidate voters in all APC-controlled states.

    He said: “The greatest threat to our democracy today is the way the ruling party has compromised the leadership of the Nigerian military to serve the personal agenda of President Jonathan. This is a dangerous game.

    “A recent court judgment in Sokoto clearly ruled that the military had no role in the electoral process.  What happened with this postponement is that Service Chiefs simply vetoed a democratic process on the directive of President Jonathan. We know what politicisation is doing to our once proud military institution.”

    ”We are aware that the Presidency has forwarded a secret memo to all commanders of divisions and battalions of Nigerian Army for a three-day strategy meeting in Kaduna from today( Monday)  on how to use the military to intimidate voters in APC states to rig election in favour of President Jonathan.

    “Since recent revelations about the role of the military in Ekiti elections is demonstrable proof of how far this government  will go to compromise the military as an institution, could it be that when the Service Chiefs said they would not have enough personnel to provide security for the elections, what they are actually saying is that they would not have enough soldiers to intimidate voters in favour of the ruling party if the elections had proceeded as scheduled?”

    The APC National Chairman expressed concern about the unholy alliance between the ruling PDP and the Military High Command to subvert the nation’s democracy.

    He said the National Security Adviser(NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki and the Service Chiefs were economical with the truth on their alleged claim that there were security threats to the general election.

    He said: “You will recall that on the 22nd of January 2015, Col. Sambo Dasuki(rtd) , the National Security Adviser (NSA), at Chatham House declared that INEC was not ready for the elections and he has therefore advised the electoral body to postpone the election.

    “ The reason he gave for his unsolicited advice was that substantial number of registered voters had not collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).  He did not say anything about security concern even though Boko Haram was an issue then as it is an issue now.  So, at what point did concern over elections shift from PVC to security concern?

    ”When the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, visited on January 25th, he wanted a categorical commitment from President Jonathan that the elections would hold as scheduled.  The President assured the American envoy that the elections would hold. Was it that his Security chiefs had not briefed him on the security situation in the country and how this would affect the election time table at the time he was making this promise?

    ”On the 2nd of February,  at the National Peace Committee meeting in Abuja with the representatives of different political parties, the service chiefs gave assurances of their readiness for the elections.

    “At the occasion, the Chief of Defence Staff,  Air Marshall Alex Badeh, gave assurances of the Armed Forces’s preparedness for the elections. According to him ‘even though we are busy in the Northeast, we also have capabilities across the nation’. Badeh also admitted that the role of the military is merely to support the police in providing security during elections.

    “At the same event, Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah said, ‘we are aware of the need for security, before, during and after the elections. We will deploy across the states of the Federation in areas we discover that have capacity for violence. We are prepared to ensure we have peaceful elections.”

    ” Also speaking at the event, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Amosu, said ‘we have commenced the airlift of the materials needed for the elections, starting from Abuja. We will continue with the elections.

    ” The sum total of all these is that only 12 days before the elections and despite the state of insecurity in the Northeast,  the entire military high command assured the nation of their readiness to provide security for the elections.

    “However, only three days later on Friday  February 6th,  these same Service Chiefs wrote to INEC, in a letter, which by all practical purposes  could be described as blackmail, saying that they would no longer be able to provide security for the elections?  What happened in those 72 hours that brought about this complete volte face?

    ”It is also important to note that at the National Council of States meeting on Thursday February 5th, INEC reaffirmed its readiness and commitment to hold the elections as scheduled. Even though the Service Chiefs briefed the Council that they had security concerns, the consensus of opinion at this august body of eminent citizens was that elections should go ahead nationwide except the 14 LGAs identified as problematic by the security chiefs.

    ”After all, it was recalled that in 1999, elections were not held in Bayelsa State because of the activities of militants at the time, but it held all over the country. The activities of Boko Haram were clearly limited to 14 local governments in three states out of 774 local governments in 36 states and FCT. How would this then warrant the blanket postponement of elections in the entire country?

    “Considering all factors building up to this postponement, it is difficult not to come to the obvious conclusion that the Military High Command is in an unholy  and dangerous alliance with the ruling party, the PDP, to subvert the democratic will of the people. We have no doubts that the letter sent to the INEC, warning it not to proceed with the elections,  emanated from the Service Chiefs’ hands of Esau and President Jonathan’s voice of Jacob.

    “Isn’t it curious that only the PDP and its supporters are celebrating the postponement? We know that at the Council of State meeting, all the former Heads of State in attendance spoke against the postponement, except in the 14 LGAs and all the former  Chief Justices also concurred. And every non-PDP governor present in the meeting spoke against postponement.

    Oyegun accused the PDP of plans to foist a constitutional crisis on the country, like the case in 1993 with the annulment of June 12 presidential election.

    He said with the way, PDP was going, Nigeria not far from the road to Rwanda.

    “Never in the history of our country had a Federal Government and the President of Nigeria so wantonly mobilised ethnic and religious sentiments to divide the people against themselves for selfish political reasons,” the APC chairman said.

    “By now, everyone is aware how a close confidant of President Jonathan, Chief Edwin Clark, called for the sack and arrest of the chairman of the INEC because, according to him, the INEC chairman is working for the interest of the North. He said this under the aegis of a Southern Nigerian People’s Assembly.

    ”We are also aware of how the Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo, unfortunately invoked religious sentiment to campaign for his party in Niger State. The level of ethnic and religious baiting that we are currently witnessing is unprecedented in the political history of Nigeria.

    “The road to Rwanda and other countries that have suffered tragic ethno-religious conflicts is not far from what PDP is currently invoking on our country. We owe it a duty to stress the point that under our watch, Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic origin or religious disposition, would be free to operate without let or hindrance.

    “ Only few days ago, the Director of National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, claimed that government has uncovered a plan by Boko Haram to bomb polling centres without providing a single shred of evidence. The following day, President Jonathan declared in a church in Lagos that Boko Haram planned to bomb the entire country.

    “We see this as deliberate scare-mongering to discourage Nigerians from coming out to exercise their democratic right to vote. This is quite unfortunate. The President that should be protecting the people and assuring them of their safety is now the one scaring them.”

    Odigie-Oyegun urged Nigerians to regard the postponement as a sacrifice for the survival of the nation’s democracy.

    He said: “This postponement comes with a huge cost to all Nigerians and every one involved, directly or indirectly, in this election, including international observers and journalists.

    “However,  we should see this as the sacrifice we need to make for the survival of democracy in Nigeria. We must remain steadfast and committed to the cause of change. Like our presidential candidate, General Buhari, said, ‘our desire for change must surpass their desperation to hold on to power at all cost. We have no other country other than Nigeria, and we must remain focused and salvage it.’

    “Gentlemen of the press, the contradictions we have pointed out in this briefing represent a clear and present danger to our democracy.

    “It is clear that this is a surreptitious but badly disguised attempt to subvert the will of the people.  But we must assure Nigerians and friends all over the world that the power of the people is greater than the people in power. These too shall pass and we shall overcome.”

    Asked if APC had lost interest in the nation’s military, Odigie-Oyegun said: “Let me loudly and emphatically say that we are largely proud of our men and women in uniform. There is no question about that. We are proud of the great job they are doing; we are proud of the sacrifice they have had to put up with in the North Eastern part of the country even when  under equipped.

    “We are proud of them; we hail them for their patriotism and we know that they also share some of the pain that we are going through as a people.

    “But there is no mincing of words, there is something seriously wrong at the top. There is no question at all. The unfolding events of the last few days have shown in clear terms that there is some collusion between the Service Chiefs and the present political elites in government. We will say that without any apology at all.

    “It is unusual for the military that is clearly supposed to be at the background advising and assisting their Commander-in-Chief to sit down and write a letter to an independent electoral body. It is totally unheard of.”

    He said he does not see the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, resigning before the general elections.

    Odigie-Oyegun added: “When I attended the IPAC meeting, he was very clear that the only thing that will make him resign is if his honour is at stake. I do not see that happening now.

    “We think he has done a good job, but his performance has not been faultless. But by and large, he has done a good job in the circumstances in which we operate in this country.

    “In the report that he gave us, he mentioned repeatedly resource constraint, but nobody picked up on that. So, it was also certain that he was working under constraints of resources. So, by and large, we have confidence in him and we don’t expect that he will be forced out of his position.”

    The briefing was attended by  a National Leader of the party,Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, Governors Adams Oshiomhole(Edo), Owelle Rochas Okorocha(Imo), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Chief Moses Adeyemo; former governors Kayode Fayemi and Niyi Adebayo.

    Others were   Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Senator George Akume, Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Chris Ngige,  ex-Ministers Bolaji Abdullahi and Inuwa Abdulkadir, ex-PDP National Chairman, Alh. Kawu Baraje, APC Deputy Chairman(North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Deputy National Chairman, (South) Engr. Segun Oni, National Vice Chairman, North-East, Engr. David Lawal, National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alh. Lai Mohammed, a former Information Minister, Prince Tony Momoh, APC National Woman Leader, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani, and the Chiarman of APC in Adamawa State, Hajiya Binta Garba among others.

     

  • Back to old military tricks

    Back to old military tricks

    The waiting game has ended. Elections will not hold this month. That was the outcome of the series of meetings the Independent National Electoral Commision (INEC) held with critical stakeholders on Saturday. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU says the shift may return Nigeria to the old era where umpires shifted goal posts in the middle of the game.

    The postponement of the general elections may not be the end of the matter. The people have more hurdles to cross in the march of electoral democracy. According to analysts, those behind the polls shift have a hidden agenda. As the agenda unfolds, further damage to the electoral process can only be averted, if the polity is vigilant and bold to resist it.

    With the postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Nigeria has regressed. Old military tricks are being reenacted. It worked in the aborted Third Republic. Now, propaganda is displacing the truth again.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has looked for an excuse to justify his request for postponement. He ultimately stirred controversy when he told anxious Nigerians, through his Service Chiefs, that he as the Commander-in-Chief could not guarantee their security, if the commission insisted on February 14 and 28 dates.

    It was the same trick employed by self-styled military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, almost 22 years ago, to scuttle the historic June 12, presidential election believed to have been won by businessman-turned politician, Chief Moshood Abiola, who was the candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). The Minna, Niger State-born military leader wanted to extend his hegemony and prolong military rule. But, he ended boxing himself into an unmitigated crisis. Till date, the ghost of June 12 is hunting him.

    At the height of his rule, Gen. Babangida, who implemented the longest transition programme in Nigeria, wanted to – by all means and at all cost – abort the presidential election scheduled for June 12, 1993. He said the military did not want the lateAbiola. At midnight, a judge was drafted to grant an injunction against the election, few hours to the exercise. But, as the legal luminary, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), pointed out, soldiers voted massively for Abiola even in their barracks.

    Today, the linkage may be quite different, but the issue is the same – security. In 1993, it was alleged that Abiola, a wealthy man, was disliked by the military because he was perceived as a threat to security. It was inexplicable. The voting party by the army put a lie into the fabrication. In 2015, it is still security, but, in a different context.

    Rationalising the curious request for poll shift, the Service Chiefs said that they could not ensure the safety of voters, polling officers and materials during the exercise.

    Also, an aide of the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe, explained that, if the elections are allowed to proceed as scheduled, they would aggravate the security situation in the Northeast, where the dreadful sect, Boko Haram, has been on the prowl.

    Observers have pointed out that government’s inability to guarantee security is an admission of failure by the President, who sworn to an oath and the constitution that the security of life and property will be his priority. However, hiding under the excuse by the military to postpone polls has its implications.

    It is a double tragedy for Nigerians. First, they cannot be protected, based on President’s remarks about the inability to guarantee security. Second, the President is now using the military’s excuse to deny Nigerians of their right to vote or demand for a leadership that will guarantee security.

    During the anti-February 14 and 28 campaigns, Jega replied the paid agents that the commission was ready to conduct the polls. But, he later succumbed to pressure to change the date. Thus, the feeling now is that INEC has lost its independence to government’s blackmail.

    If that amounts to a crisis of undue interference, only the law can resolve it. But, the interference may have sent a clear signal that government’s interference can still mar the electoral process at any stage. This means that electoral reforms have been an unfinished business in the country. INEC’s independence should not be subjected to the whims and caprices of the government. It is only logical that when INEC is not free, the ballot box cannot be safe.

    Instructively, the PDP has labelled Muhammadu Buhari, a retired General and former Head of State, as a dictator. But, stakeholders may now perceive the President as a dictator in a civilian garb. When the government insisted on a six-week extra time, contrary to INEC’s projection, it meant that the hand of the government is heavy on the umpire, which had no alternative than to cave in, almost under duress.

    Another question is: how far can the exhumed IBB trick go? Does it have prospect? Since 2011, there were signs that the President had a view to sell to the polity. Shortly after his inauguration, he reflected on the succession battles that have characterised Nigeria’s democracy. To stem the rivalry, antagonism, acrimony and bitter competition, he canvassed a single-term of six years for the executive. The President called for a constitution amendment. But, the idea could not fly.

    According to analysts, the President was trying to dodge the general election to avoid an imminent defeat. Others alleged that his party is trying to create a logjam to frustrate the opposition. But, the puzzle is: can the election be put on hold for ever?

    Yet, there is an unanswered question. Will Boko Haram insurgency end before March 28? The damage to the military psyche by the struggle for power is also enormous. According to commentators, Nigerians have to be convinced that the military was not used to scuttle the previous date, just as IBB used the military to truncate ‘June 12’.

    The military may have suffered under the administration as they suffered under previous administrations. A professional military is a vital asset to the nation. To maintain professionalism and political neutrality, it must be insulated from partisanship.  But, the institution has been abused and misused by the powers that be. This has led the former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Salihu Ibrahim (rtd), to describe it as a military of anything goes.

    Besides, the military has been reduced to a shadow of itself due to obsolete equipment.

    When the Service Chiefs told Nigerians that 100 abducted children have been rescued from Boko Haram camp and there is no evidence; when military top brass said that they knew the whereabouts of the abducted girls and they kept a sealed lip thereafter; and when soldiers said that they were ready to guarantee security for voters and they later ate their words; then, it is indisputable that the military needs help.

  • Momoh: military has no power to decide on polls

    Former Chairman of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Prince Tony Momoh said yesterday that the only security agents that can guarantee free elections are the police.

    The army, the former minister noted, “has no power or right to decide which day to vote or which day not to vote.”

    His words: “My reaction to this matter is independent. They told us that the election is February 14, and we all worked toward the date. “

    “The only person that can tell us that February 14 is not feasible is INEC. The only security agents that can equally tell us that it cannot guarantee free elections are the police. The army has no power or right to decide which day to vote or which day not to vote.

    “Their own area of operation is the external affairs. They are to protect the territorial integrity of the country against external aggression. If there is problem in 14 local government areas, in a country with 774 local governments and if you minus the councils with problem from those without problem, elections can still be held successfully.

    “They are telling us not to hold elections in all other areas because 14 councils have problem. So, we must find out why there are no guarantees for INEC to conduct elections in all the other areas. They must tell Nigerians.

    “With the commission of some other people, they are imposing their own wishes on the Nigerians people to derail our democracy. I begin to think of the June 12, 1993 scenario.

    “Nigerians will not accept the June 12 scenario now. It is only the police that will be present where INEC will carry out elections.

    “Everybody should know that this is an attempt to divert attention; and nobody attention should be diverted.

  • Amnesty, military argue over Baga, Monguno

    Amnesty, military argue over Baga, Monguno

     Nigeria’s military failed to protect civilians despite being warned of impending Boko Haram attacks on two northeastern towns, Amnesty International (AI) said yesterday.

    Boko Haram militants warned residents of Baga “almost two months ago” that they would come there to attack troops and local militias before their Jan. 3 raid on the town, the London-based group said in a statement, citing an unidentified military official.

    Boko Haram told locals the next target would be Monguno and the military was informed, Amnesty said. Boko Haram captured Monguno, 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Baga, on Sunday, according to militia member Hassan Ibrahim.

    “It is clear from this evidence that Nigeria’s military leadership woefully and repeatedly failed in their duty to protect civilians of Baga and Monguno despite repeated warnings about an impending threat posed by Boko Haram,” Netsanet Belay, Amnesty’s Africa director, said in the statement. “These attacks are an urgent wake-up call for the Nigerian leadership, the African Union and the international community.”

    But the military yesterday denied being complicit or derelict in its duties.

    Boko Haram has escalated its violent campaign to impose Shariah, killing more than 4,700 people last year, double the figure in 2013, risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft estimates. As it attacked Monguno on Sunday, it also made a failed attempt to take Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) faulted allegations by the AI that it ignored intelligence reports on Boko Haram attacks on Monguno, Konduga and Maiduguri.

    It said the AI’s allegations were misleading and distracting.

    In a statement by the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade,

    the military said it had always maintained the “highest form of alertness”.

    The statement said: “Being an area of operation where terrorists are known to be ever looking for the slightest opportunity to attack and perpetrate heinous atrocities, Nigerian troops are conversant with the need to maintain the highest form of alertness always.

    “Every available information is factored into the intelligence that drives every engagement or encounter in any part of the mission area. This standard has not only been sustained but has been incrementally enhanced in terms of capacity, troops deployment, coordination, troops mobility and protection as well as logistics.