FG Should Block Boko Haram Food, Fuel Supply - Ex Nigerian Military Chiefs
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, and several more senior military officers have asked Jonathan to declare total war on Boko Haram by...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/11/fg-should-block-boko-haram-food-fuel.html?m=0
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, and several more senior military officers have asked Jonathan to declare total war on Boko Haram by cutting off food and fuel supplies.
According to retired officers who spoke with the Punch in separate interviews, the Federal Government should weaken Boko Haram’s strength. They said government should engage the sect head-on to end the insurgency by the group.
Moreover, they also advised the Government to consider other alternatives to the States on arms procurement.
Although President Jonathan had, in his nationwide Day broadcast in Abuja on May 29, 2014, directed the armed forces to launch a full-scale military operation against Boko Haram, the Generals expressed the belief that the war against the insurgents was not full-scale yet.
According to a retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, Paul Ogbebor, with less than 200,000 military officers, the country lacked adequate forces to engage in full-scale fighting. He stated that adequate recruitment of both new and retired officers (reserves) to fill up the loopholes was required.
Ogbebor said: “The army of 150,000 should be quickly built up to a minimum of about 500,000 so that we can capture the ground and occupy it sufficiently. Retired officers should remain in their places and join the police for internal security. Internal security should go side by side with total war.”
Speaking further on the matter, Gowon said: “If anyone takes up arms against you and decides to establish what they call an Islamic state, then I think you can deal with them, because they are really trying to break the country and that must not be allowed.”
On the implications of the war on civilians in the affected areas, Ogbebor said the effects could be managed by the Government as was done during the Nigerian Civil War.
“There is always such a situation in the enemy’s territory where we have to find a way to cut off supplies to the enemies — food, water, communication and electricity — in order to stop things that will encourage them to continue with the war. We had that in the civil war and it was effective,” he said.
A former Military Administrator of Bauchi and Osun states, Col. Theophilus Bamigboye (retd.) supported ideas of his former colleagues to flush out the insurgents and return normalcy to the troubled areas. He also said he was in support of the Government declaring a full-scale war against Boko Haram.
Bamigboye stated that there was the need to adopt high-powered intelligence to know the actual location of the insurgents and the most appropriate approach to adopt to end their menace.
In the same vein, a former Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd.), said “total war” had begun in Nigeria since 2009, when Boko Haram began its attacks.
The former military administrator pointed out that Boko Haram was to Nigeria what ISIS was to the East, adding that they both threatened global peace and security.
Source: Naij
According to retired officers who spoke with the Punch in separate interviews, the Federal Government should weaken Boko Haram’s strength. They said government should engage the sect head-on to end the insurgency by the group.
Moreover, they also advised the Government to consider other alternatives to the States on arms procurement.
Although President Jonathan had, in his nationwide Day broadcast in Abuja on May 29, 2014, directed the armed forces to launch a full-scale military operation against Boko Haram, the Generals expressed the belief that the war against the insurgents was not full-scale yet.
According to a retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, Paul Ogbebor, with less than 200,000 military officers, the country lacked adequate forces to engage in full-scale fighting. He stated that adequate recruitment of both new and retired officers (reserves) to fill up the loopholes was required.
Ogbebor said: “The army of 150,000 should be quickly built up to a minimum of about 500,000 so that we can capture the ground and occupy it sufficiently. Retired officers should remain in their places and join the police for internal security. Internal security should go side by side with total war.”
Speaking further on the matter, Gowon said: “If anyone takes up arms against you and decides to establish what they call an Islamic state, then I think you can deal with them, because they are really trying to break the country and that must not be allowed.”
On the implications of the war on civilians in the affected areas, Ogbebor said the effects could be managed by the Government as was done during the Nigerian Civil War.
“There is always such a situation in the enemy’s territory where we have to find a way to cut off supplies to the enemies — food, water, communication and electricity — in order to stop things that will encourage them to continue with the war. We had that in the civil war and it was effective,” he said.
A former Military Administrator of Bauchi and Osun states, Col. Theophilus Bamigboye (retd.) supported ideas of his former colleagues to flush out the insurgents and return normalcy to the troubled areas. He also said he was in support of the Government declaring a full-scale war against Boko Haram.
Bamigboye stated that there was the need to adopt high-powered intelligence to know the actual location of the insurgents and the most appropriate approach to adopt to end their menace.
In the same vein, a former Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd.), said “total war” had begun in Nigeria since 2009, when Boko Haram began its attacks.
The former military administrator pointed out that Boko Haram was to Nigeria what ISIS was to the East, adding that they both threatened global peace and security.
Source: Naij
