Boko Haram: General Arrested For Fleeing With Troops

Army seniors allegedly ordered the arrest of a Brigadier-General attached to the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army, accused of negligence followed by the capture of some Borno State communities by Boko Haram members.
According to Vanguard, the indications about the arrest and detention of the General, whose name was withheld, appeared at weekend.

The top officer was among those who coordinated operation to dislodge insurgents from Bama, Gwoza, Madagali, Michika and some other troubled areas of Borno and Adamawa states.
 The General was allegedly accused of poor leadership, as a result of which his soldiers abandoned the fight against militants. It was gathered that when the terrorists launched the attack on Bama, some top brass of the unit ran into the bush instead of offering resistance.
According to the source, the insurgents easily accessed the Brigade Headquarters and Armoury and carted away vehicles and tanks.
The top military command was believed to be outraged by the fact that the military on site did not resist Boko Haram, who after taking over Bama, killing hundreds of civilians were also allowed to ransack the armoury from the 21 Armoured Brigade.
The insurgents purportedly used the seized weapons to later attack the infantry battalion at Konduga, however it was repelled.
The source lamented that the troops equipped with tanks could not withstand the battle which was later decided by less than 400 infantry soldiers in Konduga.
 Moreover, the commanders and some 800 troops fled to Maiduguri, but not to Konduga in order to join their colleagues in the fight against the approaching insurgents.
Aftermath
A board of inquiry was said to have started investigation into the matter over the commited offences.
A senior military source explained that the insurgents were not better armed, imputing the fault upon the troops leaders on ground.
“Commanders of troops are supposed to lead soldiers from the frontline but what we discovered is that most of the commanders operate and give orders from the rear. If not that our soldiers are rugged and know that the Boko Haram terrorists could not match them professionally, what we are seeing today would have been the opposite. Actually, when terrorists see soldiers coming, they run for their lives, but due to poor leadership, the back-up arrangements are not activated. When soldiers therefore run out of ammunition and the terrorists regroup, soldiers will have no other choice than to retreat.”
The stated however that the Nigerian military conduct brilliant operations and referred to several repelled attacks in Konduga, following which the army recovered the stolen weapons.