In its bid to stamp out indiscipline within the ranks and file, the Nigerian Army has arrested senior officers, including a Brigadier-General.
They are Brigadier-General Enitan Ransome-Kuti, his Chief of Staff Lt. Colonel G.A Suru. Others are the Commanding Officer of 134 and 174 battalions, Lt. Colonel Haruna and a certain Major aliyu.
According to the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, the senior army officers are in the process of accounting for their actions leading to the loss of weapons, men and location in their area of responsibility in the mission area.
He said they were being investigated for allegedly shirking their responsibilities during the attack by the militants.
The two Nigerian Army battalions are under the Multi-National Task Joint Task Force in Baga, attacked by the insurgents.
Speaking on the arrest, General Olukolade said that the arrested officers were being investigated because at the time of the attack on the multinational headquarters in Baga, Brigadier-General Ransome-Kuti and his men were fully in charge of the military formation.
He said it was disappointing that the attack on Baga was not repelled by both battalions, despite having the necessary weapons to carry out the necessary operations.
He said, “This is a normal military procedure in major operations or after encounters. The essence is to extract and collate relevant information for subsequent missions. It could also lead to or determine appropriate disciplinary action where necessary.”
On January 3, 2015, suspected members of Boko Haram attacked the base of the Multinational Task Force in Baga, Borno State, dislodging the soldiers there.
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