Mubi battle: Army arrests six senior officers for fleeing

                                  

                              Nigeria Defence spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade


Six military commanders, including an injured Lieutenant Colonel, have been arrested by the military for withdrawing from Mararaba, Michika, Madagali, Mubi and later Vimtim when Boko Haram insurgents attacked the communities last week.

It was learnt that   an unspecified number of soldiers were also in detention for allegedly abandoning the communities, thereby making easy for the insurgents to have an upper hand.

A reliable military source, who made this known in Abuja on Sunday said   the movement of five of the commanders had been restricted to the officers mess in a military formation.

The source, who did not name the military formation, because of security reason, added that “one of them, a Leutenant Colonel   is receiving treatment at the MRS in Yola for   serious injuries he sustained when the car in which he was escaping with somersaulted several times.”

He said the injured officer   would join his colleagues in the officers mess on recovery.

Our source said, “Today (Sunday), the military authorities arrested five   commanders around the Mubi axis of Adamawa State. The sixth is a Lt. Col.

“Some of those arrested were at Mararaba, Madagali, Michika and other locations. I think the military leaders are saying that the soldiers did not resist the Boko Haram when they invaded the place.”

Our source explained that the Defence authorities had already commenced investigations into the activities of all its personnel in relation with the capture of Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa State and other supposedly “fortified locations,” including Vimtim, the home town of the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh.

The insurgents had reportedly burnt Badeh’s residence, a clinic and a civic centre in the community on Thursday.

The source explained that the military authorities were determined to find out why the Boko Haram’s advance in the state was not resisted by the troops.

He said the military   chiefs   were of the opinion that the “tactical withdrawal” of the soldiers from their   positions was nothing but a “display of indiscipline and cowardice which   would not be tolerated.”

Our correspondents gathered that it was the military authority’s conviction that enough weapons and men were deployed in Mubi and other locations to frustrate the any attack by the insurgents.

On Thursday, the Minister of Defence, Lt.Gen. Aliyu Gusau; the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Kenneth Minimah, declined to speak with journalists on issues relating to the capture of Mubi and the other communities by the insurgents.

When   contacted on the issue, the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, said, “Anyone found to have undermined the ongoing operation will face appropriate sanctions and this is well known to all military personnel.”

Another source, who confided in one of our correspondents, said soldiers had a grueling encounter on Sunday with insurgents at Bladeba about one and half kilometers from Mubi.

He said   the soldiers were able to take over some of the checkpoints captured by the insurgents.

It was   also learnt that some of the insurgents   in control of Mubi were moving towards Hildi   to avoid aerial bombardments.