Wives’ growing concern over deployment of soldier-hubands to Boko Haram stronghold

Twice last week, wives and children of soldiers openly protested the deployment of their husbands to the Boko Haram’s stronghold within Borno communities where they feared the worst could happen.

The concerned women and their children were said to have laid siege to Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri and 21 Armoured Brigade in Giwa Barracks, locking the gates leading to the barracks.

They were reportedly shouting on top of their voices: “We won’t allow our husbands to be killed as the military authorities refused to equip them with sophisticated weapons that can match the ones of Boko Haram.”

Such protests over deployment of spouses to war-torn zones of the northeast have become rampant and disturbing.

In April this year, wives of soldiers of 103 battalion based in Enugu protested in the barracks over the posting of their husbands to Borno and Yobe states to join in the war against insurgency.

The women, numbering over 200, asked the army authorities to bring back their husbands. They were said to have claimed that their husbands did not join the army to die and leave them as widows and their children fatherless.

They were only placated when the authorities of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu informed them that their husbands were not going to die.

The sad episode underscored the fear and trepidation with which people view the assignment in the troubled north east.

Guerrilla warfare

The war going on in the north east is fierce and only those physically involved in it understand the seriousness of the matter. The situation is worse because those fighting on the opposite side put everything into the war, including their lives.

A commentator recently observed that an enemy that is amorphous and skilled at asymmetric warfare will initially prove difficult for a military trained for conventional war.

“Unlike in the past whereby nations stood against one another and fought in a definite war, the war stories in recent times have changed significantly with a major spotlight on terrorism and insurgency in different parts of the world. Guerrilla warfare is one of the most common forms of insurgency that has been experienced by the world all through the centuries. This is a warfare whereby a group of people come together in rebellion to fight against an organised army. One major strategy that is employed by such groups is the surprise attack on the legal army. As these attacks are carried out on the legal army, the guerrilla militias keep on moving from one place to another thus, reducing their chances of becoming vulnerable to attacks from the government forces. This is what is going on in the north east,” the commentator explained.

The heat is on

Pundits have described the courage being exhibited by the soldiers as legendary. Kenneth Minimah, a lieutenant-general and chief of Army Staff, re-echoed this sentiment while on working tour of Lagos State recently. He said it demanded professionalism, courage and patriotism to fight the unconventional war.

Minimah disclosed that some army personnel have abandoned the force due to the fear of engaging in battle against the terrorists group.

In recent times, tales of soldiers in northeast calling their families down south and complaining of their growing fear at the battle front with the Islamist group. They are said to have expressed strong resolve to abandon their duty post and disappear into unknown destination. The soldiers had bitterly complained to their families that the equipment they’re given to fight the enemies could be likened to confronting a well-kitted warrior with catapult and smooth stones.

Why the soldiers deserve commendation

It is stating the obvious that these are troublesome times for Nigeria. The rank and file of the military who are now made to bear the brunt in a country that has long toyed with issues of national security and defence deserve commendation, even as Nigerians are increasingly impatient with the overall handling of the insurgency by the military establishment and the state.

A public affairs analyst stressed that the soldiers fighting in Gwoza and other parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa did not cause the insurgency and that the fact that they signed to be soldiers should not make them to be treated as “guinea pigs” or sacrificial lambs.

According to him, “we must always put the feelings of others into consideration. Nobody signed to be a soldier to die a useless death.”

Despite inadequate supplies of ammunition, communication equipment and transport vehicles these soldiers have continued to battle the insurgents. Critics also allege that the soldiers deployed to Borno are usually those inexperienced ones fresh from training.

“My brother just finished his training in one part of the North, and while we were expecting that he would be posted to the south, at least, to have some fresh air, and to gather more experience, he was deployed to Borno. The day the information came to use about his posting, our hearts sank,” said a man in his early 30s whose younger brother is currently fighting in Borno. Similar stories are commonplace.

Loss of lives

Since the activities of Boko Haram became a national issue in 2009, the country has lost a large number of military and para-military personnel.

On March 27 this year, Reuters reported that Boko Haram gunmen attacked a Nigerian military base and adjacent police barracks in the north-eastern town of Buni Yadi, in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, killing 31 security personnel.

According to the report, the attack occurred not far from where the Islamist insurgents shot or burned to death 59 pupils at a boarding school in February.

Reports said the insurgents, who started the massive attack on the town from 5pm, also set all security and military formations in the town ablaze till dawn.

On June 24, the media were awash with reports that Boko Haram militants attacked a military checkpoint at Bulamburin village, in Borno State, killing 12 soldiers in a fierce exchange of gunfire.

In late June, it was reported that three soldiers lost their lives when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a military checkpoint in Gwoza town, Borno State, near the border with Cameroun.

Furthermore, on Wednesday, July 9, no fewer than 15 soldiers were reportedly ambushed and killed by Boko Haram militants in Damboa, Borno State. The attack occurred as about 200 soldiers were sent on an operation to recapture Damboa military base which had been taken over by the insurgents some days back.

Since the insurgency started, hundreds of soldiers, and members of other security agencies have been murdered in surprise attacks.

Thinking the future

 Imagine leaving your home, wife and children to pursue a course that could end your life. Your children’s future could be in peril if you do not return. A recent study carried out in Asia estimated there are as many as 250,000 ‘Amerasians’ and their offspring in the Philippines, and they are largely a forgotten community. Amerasians are persons born in Asia, to U.S. military fathers and Asian mothers.

Like all children born of many soldiers, especially those in the lower cadre, many Amerasians wander about, without education and reasonable sources of livelihood. Analysts say this is one of the hazards of nomadic life, which is part of military service.

But soldiers are human. They have feelings just like civilians and appreciate their families. Military sources told BD SUNDAY that many married soldiers are wondering what would become of their children if they get killed in the on-going insurgency.

“We want the best for our children just like many other Nigerians,’’ said a soldier, who is of the rank of lieutenant.

Another military source revealed to BD SUNDAY that this is even made worse by the fact that soldiers deployed to the Boko Haram-prone zone do not have special packages.

 ‘There should be no tears for the soldiers’

Meanwhile, some people are of the opinion that no tears should be shed for the soldiers since they willingly and consciously signed for the career of defending their fatherland. They argue that Nigerian soldiers have not done enough to deserve exaltation as death and military service are inextricable.

Rick Warren, an American cleric said: “Well, in the first place, military service, they don’t call it service for nothing. You are actually serving your country. And it is a worthy and valid vocation.’’

Following the women’s April protest of the deployment of their spouses to the troubled north, a military source explained that although the action of the women could not be said to be a mutiny, “one thing remains clear that over a hundred thousand members of the armed forces, in joining the services, signed to defend the territorial integrity of the nation and pay the supreme sacrifice, if necessary. It is unheard of anywhere in the world that soldiers would dictate where they want to serve.”

 Tam David-West, a former Petroleum minister, told BD SUNDAY that the soldiers must be allowed to do their job without unnecessary sentiment. Reacting to a question as to whether or not the soldiers deserved commendation for sacrificing their time and lives in the troubled zone, the professor of Virology said: “We must not bring sentiment into a serious matter. Why commending them; have they won the war? Have they ended the Boko Haram insurgency? Look, every soldier signed to defend his country at all costs. If we begin to comment them, it means we are telling them to vacate the place because the war has been won, but we all know it is far from being over. So, there’s no basis for any commendation. Mind you, Nigerian workers in different disciplines are contributing to the wellbeing of the country, do we go about commending them for doing what they said they would do. At the end of the war, we can do so, but definitely not now. Please, let’s not trivialise serious matters.”

By the same token, a former presidential aspirant, who spoke with our reporter on condition of anonymity, said there was no basis for commendation since the battle was not yet over.

“Honestly, I don’t think it is the right thing to do now. Agreed that the soldiers need more encouragement from government and all Nigerians, but to begin to lavish commendation on them is not necessary for now. For many years, these are those who have not seen war before, and they have been sitting idly in their barracks, enjoying themselves. This is just to test their skills and what they learnt in their trainings. What we should concern ourselves with is to continue to urge government to provide modern equipment and also see to the welfare of soldiers,” he said.

Zebulon Agomuo & Odinaka Anudu