The Nigerian Army is holding two
officers – a major and a captain – in connection with alleged sabotage
of the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the North-East.
A military source said on Wednesday that
the Army authorities were intensifying efforts to rid the service of
saboteurs in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations.
It was gathered that the Army commenced a
painstaking but discreet investigations into the activities of some of
its personnel following the Boko Haram attack on troops’ location in
Gashigar, on October 22, 2016.
The Acting Director, Army Public
Relations, Col. Sani Usman, had said in a statement on Saturday that 13
soldiers were wounded during a surprise Boko Haram attack on troops at
Gashigar in the north of Borno State.
Usman had stated that some soldiers were missing after the attack.
The statement did not give the exact number of those missing during the Gashigar attack.
It was learnt that both President
Mohammadu Buhari and the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai,
were alarmed by the Gashigar attack, which involved an entire unit.
It was gathered that the Army
authorities decided to conduct a discreet investigation into the
telephone conversation of some of the security personnel and their
civilian counterparts and uncovered some suspicious activities through
the screening.
A military source said on Wednesday that
the Army was intensifying investigation to unravel two established
cases against the arrested suspects, which were the leakage of
information on troops’ movement to the insurgents and the raising of
funds to finance Boko Haram operations through cattle rustling.
The source added, “The President was
furious and discussed the matter with the COAS when some of the heads
of that units were ambushed by the Boko Haram.
“The Army leadership took out time to screen the communications lines of the officers for several days without making it known.
“The suspicion was that they have links
with some civilians and the links were traced. They are giving them
vital information concerning the movement of soldiers.
“How come that the Borno State Governor
and other officials have not been attacked, yet they ambushed the Chief
of Army Staff. They have not attacked civilians but they attacked the
COAS.”
When our correspondent contacted the Acting Army spokesman, he said investigation into the matter was ongoing.
He added that the Army would not release
information on the matter in view of the fact that there was an ongoing
planned rescue operation in the area.
Usman had said in a statement on Tuesday
that a total of 32 persons, comprising two military officers, two
soldiers, two policemen and 26 civilians were in custody for allegedly
sabotaging the ongoing operations.
PUNCH NEWS
No comments:
Post a Comment