Navy, Air Force unhappy over army control in Boko Haram war — Ex-CDS Irabor

Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd.) says the Navy and Air Force once became unhappy with Army’s dominant role in the coordination of operations against Boko Haram.

The  former defence chief said the arrangement, which placed control of Operation Lafiya Dole under Army Headquarters, left the other services uncomfortable despite their active contributions to the fight.

Irabor made the revelation in his book titled Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum, where he also detailed the dire state of military equipment at the height of the insurgency.

He disclosed that at a stage in the fight, the military had to rely on abandoned and dilapidated vehicles — including some from the Nigerian Civil War era — due to the poor condition of equipment available to troops.

The disclosure comes against the backdrop of past incidents in which soldiers were sanctioned for complaining about poor logistics.

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In 2014, several soldiers deployed in Borno State were court-martialled after protesting inadequate weapons and support to confront Boko Haram fighters. Some were sentenced to death for mutiny, though the sentences were later commuted.

Irabor, who served as Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole between March 2016 and May 2017, described the equipment situation in the North-East theatre as “deplorable,” saying commanders were forced to improvise to sustain operations.

He said, “It is worth noting that at a particular stage of operation, the Lafiya Dole theatre’s equipment disposition was deplorable. In order to boost the fighting capability of the forces, therefore, we resorted to scavenging dilapidated and abandoned vehicles.”

He noted that the coordination of Operation Lafiya Dole at some point was handled by Army Headquarters, causing unease among the Navy and Air Force leadership. He said, “In contrast to the provisions of the NDP, the coordination of the operation was undertaken by Army HQ at some point, such that the leadership of the other services (navy and air force), whose forces contributed to the operation felt uncomfortable with such an arrangement.”

Irabor said he tasked Captain Mohammed Narogo with leading the recovery effort, noting that the officer successfully restored several old vehicles to service.

“I tasked Captain Mohammed Narogo with undertaking the responsibility, and he was ingenious in bringing back to service some of the vehicle wreckages. Some of the vehicles were those used during the Nigerian Civil War.

“The effort of the officer made a huge difference, and I recommended him for the Chief of Army Staff’s commendation award, as well as a special promotion to his current rank of major,” Irabor said.

The former defence chief also disclosed that due to the poor state of equipment, the then Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, authorised the use of trucks initially procured for road construction and tractors meant for mechanised farming to support military operations.

Irabor said, “Furthermore, the deplorable state of equipment led the then Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, to authorise that the trucks procured by the state government for road construction be used by the military to enhance their operations.“He equally authorised the use of tractors procured for mechanised farming to be used for military purposes. Closely related to this is the control of forces deployed for operations.”