Vanguard Newspaper, today, reported
that an Army Colonel, some junior
officers and soldiers, who were
taking part in the military offensive
to reclaim communities taken over by
the Boko Haram terrorists in
Adamawa State, have been arrested
for sabotage.
Military sources said that the colonel
(a Muslim) who was Commanding a
team of three Armoured Personnel
Carriers, APC’s, with the capability to
fire up to a range of 1.5kilometres or
even more, had instead of pursuing
the terrorists, deliberately set the
APCs on fire between Gulak and
Madagali, before running away with
his team of soldiers into the bush.
The paper said Army authorities
were outraged over the development
and ordered the arrest of both the
commander, the junior officers as
well as the soldiers under his
command.
Narrating how the “embarrassing
incident occurred,” a source who was
privy to the development noted that
until the latest development, the
Special Forces of the Nigerian Army
who commenced the effort to rout
Boko Haram terrorists from Bazza,
Michika, Gulak and Madagali from
Vimtim, had successfully dealt with,
and inflicted heavy casualties on the
terrorists up till Gulak.
It was said that between Gulak and
Madagali, the Colonel who had all
along been prided with air
surveillance reports, was again
informed that Boko Haram terrorists
were approaching his team in six
Toyota Hilux Pick Up vans from the
Madagali axis.
“However, rather than blasting and
taking out the terrorists in their
pick-up vans, he ordered his soldiers
to jump out of the APC’s and set the
armoured tanks on fire, without
realising that he was being
monitored.
“This was shocking because the
terrorists were armed with weaponry,
which were grossly inferior to the
firepower of the Nigerian Army
Amoured tanks.
“After accomplishing the sabotage
act, the Colonel and the junior
officers and soldiers ran away into
the bush, claiming that they were
overpowered by a better armed
group of Boko Haram terrorists”,
Saturday Vanguard was told.
Military sources said that the action
of the Colonel and soldiers under his
command had given vent to the
disclosure by the top hierarchy of
the military that there were so many
fifth columnists in the military
working against the country’s
determination to flush out Boko
Haram terrorists in the land.
Meanwhile, a Board of Inquiry, BoI,
had been set up by the Army
authorities to investigate the Colonel
and his soldiers after which a
General Court Martial would be set
up to try them for conspiracy,
treason and willful sabotage among
others.
A senior officer, who confided in
Vanguard Newspaper stated that:
“You can now see why the Military
Court Martial which is currently
sitting is inevitable. The uninformed
would feel that soldiers who are
fighting the nation’s battle are
being unjustly punished.
“But the truth is that many of them
are sabotaging Nigeria and making
the insurgents look formidable for
reasons that cannot be explained.
Some of them appear sympathetic to
the insurgents.
“How can it be explained that
several APCs that cost up to $
1million each in some cases or more
will be willfully destroyed by
Commissioned Officers (COs), who
swore to defend the territorial
integrity of their nation, just to help
terrorists? That is treason of the
highest order.”
The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air
Chief Marshal Alex Badeh had
during the week insisted the death
penalty imposed on the 12 soldiers,
who were tried for treason was lawful
and in accordance with military
dictates.
He spoke at a three-day conference
organised by the National Security
Adviser in collaboration with Trim
Communication Nigeria Ltd on
Media/Security relationship in crisis
management.
According to him, “The day you join
the military you have signed off,
whether life or death, and it is obey
before complaint. How can a soldier
just jump out of the APC because
you want to donate APC to Boko
Haram, and somebody is there
talking about constructive mutiny?
“The laws are there, if you run away
from the enemy, you will die and
that is what the military law says.
Apart from the old Nigerian law, we
abide by the military law.
“Nobody forces or conscripts anybody
into the military. It is a voluntary
service, and so if we have this type
of challenge, you should be able to
confront it and not to run away”.
www.dailypost.ng/2014/10/11/shocker-colonel-10-officers-set-armoured-tanks-ablaze-boko-haram-attack-adamawa/

unbelievable! feel like saying " pishure/video of the Colonel setting the APC ablaze or i don't believe it".
mean while una forget to put the region the Colonel is from this time around. Awon were.