In our series of letters
from African journalists, Mannir Dan Ali considers Nigeria's inability
to prevent the Boko Haram militant group from gaining ground in the
north-east.
Just when you imagine that it cannot get worse for the
Nigerian military and its pride as a fighting force, it takes a further
dive.
With the abduction of the more than 200 teenage schoolgirls
from Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria well past the three-month mark and
no news yet about their rescue, the number of towns and villages being
taken over by the Boko Haram insurgents is steadily growing.
It seems military commanders have believed their own propaganda, ignoring the true state of affairs in the troubled region.
For nearly a year - coinciding with the state of emergency in
the north-east - there have been constant reports quoting foot
soldiers saying they lack the equipment to match the firepower of the
insurgents.
Recently some soldiers claimed that sending them to engage
the insurgents without adequate weapons was like sending them to die.
The humanitarian crisis has affected more than three million, officials say
An international campaign was launched for the release of teenage girls abducted in April
The militants have caused widespread destruction through their bombing campaign
Last month saw the unprecedented spectacle of soldiers' wives
protesting at the barracks in Maiduguri against the deployment of their
husbands to the battle front on the grounds that they were not properly
equipped.
Before that the senior general in charge of the same barracks
barely escaped with his life when angry junior soldiers turned their
guns on him after they heard about a bloody ambush in which a number of
their colleagues lost their lives.
Courts-martial
He escaped unharmed - after being whisked away by his security aides - and was discreetly replaced shortly afterwards.
This was quickly followed by reports of mutinous conduct by
some soldiers who refused an order to be posted to engage with the Boko
Haram militants.
At all times the Nigerian military authorities issue standard
denials and in the case of the refusal to carry out orders attributed
it to "mischief-makers working for terrorists".
On the wives' protest, Nigeria's army chief Lt-Gen Kenneth
Minimah warned: "Any repeat of such acts, I will tell soldiers to use
koboko [whip] on the wives and bundle them out of the barracks."
Who are Boko Haram?
- Founded in 2002
- Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
- Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
- Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - but also attacks on police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
- Some three million people affected
- Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
The military high command is apparently not taking lightly
matters of what it sees as indiscipline - and there are reports of
several dozen soldiers being court-martialled.
All of that was before the dramatic report from the
Cameroonian military saying that nearly 500 Nigerian soldiers had
crossed the border after an encounter with Boko Haram insurgents.
The Cameroonians quickly disarmed the Nigerian soldiers, who
the Abuja high command said had gone into the neighbouring country on
what they called a "tactical manoeuvre".
'Nigerian caliphate'
The "manoeuvring" battalion of soldiers has since been
escorted back to Nigeria from the town of Maroua, about 80km (50 miles)
from the border, and not much has been heard of the matter since then.
Privately and on social media, there has been a furious
debate about the incident, which has left many Nigerians questioning
what may have happened to their fighting force, which performed
creditably in several international peacekeeping engagements across
Africa.
Many cannot understand why, despite the huge budgetary and
extra-budgetary allocation to the security sector, Nigerian soldiers do
not seem to match what many see as the ragtag Boko Haram insurgents.
Most of military's hardware dates back to purchases made under
the civilian government overthrown in 1983 - the last non-military
administration until multi-party democracy returned in 1999.
The rot is blamed largely on corruption - and some say the
inadequacy is also a legacy of long years of neglect by military
regimes, coupled with politicians who argued a strong army was a
challenge to democracy.
All this has allowed Boko Haram to seize the initiative,
taking over and holding towns and villages and hoisting their flags in
places such as Gwoza.
This has emboldened the group's leader to declare a caliphate in the areas it controls.
The Nigerian defence headquarters dismiss this as empty
rhetoric - they say the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
state is still intact.
But many Nigerians remain wary of such reassurances and are apprehensive about what the militants may do next.
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