How military Generals lose homes, family members to Boko Haram When they joined the Nigerian armed forces, they swore to an oath to defend and protect the territorial integrity of their fatherland from foreign invasion and attack. But for sometime now, several military personnel including highranking Generals have suffered great loses. Some have lost their family members while others have their country homes either taken over by insurgents or totally destroyed. Saturday Sun gathered that some of the military officers especially those still in service have come under persistent threats from persons perceived to be members of the Boko Haram terrorists group, warning them to steer clear of the military operations in the North East or have themselves to blame. And true to the warnings by the insurgents, the targeted officers and soldiers have had to pay very dearly as some of them have had their ancestral homes completely burnt down, their aged parents slaughtered like chickens while some others paid with their own lives. When the military was ordered to move to Borno State to take charge of the security situation there following the incessant bomb blasts by insurgents in Maiduguri, most military personnel, especially those from the area, were happy because they will at least contribute to the restoration of peace to their state. However, soon after the operations commenced, personnel from that region began to receive various threat phone calls, text messages and letters by unknown persons warning them not to take part in the operations. Some of those targeted are mainly from Yobe, Gombe, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kano and some other northern states. The situation raised a stir which was not taken too seriously by the personnel and the military authorities who saw the trend as a distraction. But the threat soon became a reality when the insurgents with the help of their informants in uniforms began to reel out the names of their targets. As if that was not enough, they started receiving distress calls from their family members in their respective villages calling to inform them of how they were being terrorized by people asking them to prevail on their relatives in the military to leave the area as they were being used to track them down because of their knowledge of the terrain where most of them grew up. Several of the officers and soldiers died in various attacks and those who volunteered to lead some of the operations were brutally killed. But this did not deter the personnel from carrying out their military jobs as some of them opted to relocate their aged parents and other family members to other states in the North considered to be safe. However, seeing that these military officers would not heed their warnings, the terrorists began to loot their houses in their home towns after unleashing terror on their loved ones and thereafter set them ablaze. Sadly, most of the affected officers are Major Generals who have reached their retirement ages and are planning to go back to their villages to settle down for retirement after being out for over three decades. As it is stands today, they can no longer do so as they no longer have places to lay their heads as their country homes and mansions have now been converted to the official residences of Boko Haram leaders, their operational bases or even totally destroyed. And to make matters worse, the terrorists have also gone to the extent of destroying houses of their fathers and close relatives. Another consequence of this is that the affected officers may not be able to travel home to carry out some traditional responsibilities like marriages for their children since they no longer have places to call home. Worst hit so far are retired and serving military Generals from Michika, Baza, Mubi and Vimtim, all from Adamawa and Buratai, Mafa, in Borno State.Saturday Sun gathered that so far no single home or family compound of military officers from these areas have been spared by the insurgents. A few of the identified military Generals, who have fallen victims of the insurgents’ ‘colonization’ of their homes, include the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Major-General Mohammed Buratai, Major-General Bitrus Kwaji, Major-General M.A Zaruwa and Major-General S. Kwabe, among others. In the case of Air Chief Marshal Badeh, the insurgents did not only vandalize his mansion in Vimtim, they destroyed the hospital and a vocational centre built by him for his community. To worsen his plight, the CDS has been swimming in allegations that he sent a military helicopter to Vimtim to airlift his family members few hours before insurgents eventually overrun the town about a fortnight ago. Few days after the allegation went viral, the Defence Headquarters managed to issue a statement which appeared to have lent some level of credence to the accusation. The DHQ indeed confirmed sending a military chopper to the community but claimed it was to provide back-up for ground troops.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 07:04:56 +0000