News from the army and police are not palatable. They are bad news in all ramifications. They make the heart bleed, diminish all of us as humans, and leave the country bare.
The military high command declared on Thursday, November 24 that 46 soldiers are missing (one officer and 45 soldiers).
Anyone versed in the language of communication ofthe army knows that the soldiers are no longer alive; the military always does everything humanly possible to look for its personnel before declaring them “missing”.
I hate to hear that soldiers who protect and defend the territorial integrity of our country are hurt, not to talk of missing, or even being killed in or out of action.
But that is the stark reality with the signal the army sent out to its battalions across the country about the missing soldiers. The signal symbolises a mourning alert.
To be sure the soldiers are already dead, the army asked their families, particularly next of kin, to send in their bank details for payment of entitlements.
That is how sad the news is for now. It makes it sadder that it was contained in a November 20 memo sent by one M. Jimoh, the new commander of the Nigerian Army 145 Task Force Battalion in Damasak, Borno State.
Like soldiers, personnel of other law enforcement agenciesemployed to lay down their lives in defence of all of usby maintaining law and order, in most cases through risky enforcement, are also in the same situation.
The police are in this category. Despite the way some of them carry out their duties, we cannot but worry whenever they are harmed in the line of duty.
One is concerned about the report on Thursday, November 24 that 128 police officers were killed on duty in Nigeria within three months.
Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, described as deeply worrisomethe rate at which his personnel are wasted daily while on duty.
“These line of duty resultant deaths, occasioned by unwarranted attacks by religious bigots, bandits, hoodlums and militants must be reversed and the trend halted,” Idris said in a statement issued in Abuja by Force Public Relations Officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Donald Awunah.
His words: “In the past three months, the Force has lost128 personnel in various parts of the country due to the activities of these undesirable elements in our communities.
“Also disturbing is the wanton destruction of police infrastructure and public assets.
“The recent cases in Dankamoji village in Maradu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Abagana in Anambra State, and in Okrika waterways in Rivers State, where personnel were killed, arms carted away, structures and equipment destroyed are cases in point.”
Despite the effort the military makes to contain Boko Haram in the North East,Nigerians believe the Muslim fundamentalists still have a grip on many communities in the region.
About five weeks ago, the terrorists dislodged soldiers from Gashigar, Borno State. Some soldiers got drowned in River Yobe, and about83 others went missing with alongside the Commander of the Army 145 Task Force Battalion in Damasak, Lt. Colonel K. Yusuf.
The drowned and missing were deployed to Gashigaron the northern fringes of Borno, part of “Operation Gama Aiki” launched in June 2016 to displace insurgents on the Nigerian border with Chad and Niger Republic.
The soldiers were manning the Forward Operation Base when the insurgents advanced with force towards them in the evening of October 16, clutching superior military hardware.
Though the soldiers put up initial resistance, they soon “abandoned” their base to save their lives.
The next day, the army authoritieswere informed about how Boko Haramdrove the soldiers into the River Yobe, opened fire, and wounded several of them.
Only 22 were rescued and taken to hospital in Diffa in southern Niger Republic.
Initially, the army tried to cover up the incident, as its spokesman, Sani Usman, denied it. But later, theTheatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor, confirmed 39 soldiers missing.
The military has done a lot in the past one year to degrade Boko Haram. Regardless, the war is still far from being won going by tales of this nature that resulted in the army declaring soldiers missing.
The circumstances surrounding what could have happened has long been a subject of military interrogation, but the big lesson the military ought to learn is that there could still be enemies within sabotaging efforts to rout the insurgents.
All the arms of the military have shown commitment to the fight against Boko Haram. They cannot afford to lose the momentum, and troops.
No effort deployed against insurgency and terrorism is wasted.
It hurts to lose soldiers and policemen trained and paid from tax payers’ money to protectus. We should be worried when they faceattacksthat result in their death.
Although some may argue that some attacks on the police are inevitable, a good number can be avoided; and as Idris said, we need to reverse the trend because Nigerians are the losers.