Nigeria’s military says some officers are selling arms and ammunition to
Boko Haram, indicating the corruption bedeviling the country’s fight
against the Islamic extremists continues despite government efforts to
halt graft.
The admission comes three weeks after the Nigerian army said a military
tribunal is trying 16 officers and troops accused of offenses related to
the fight against Boko Haram, including the theft and sale of ammunition.
Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the theater commander in northeastern Nigeria,
told a news conference on Thursday that military authorities have
confirmed that some soldiers were selling arms and ammunition to Boko
Haram. He called it a betrayal of the Nigerian people. He gave no more
details.
President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed corruption for the deaths of
thousands in the seven-year Islamic uprising that has killed more than
20,000. Children who escaped Boko Haram are dying of starvation in refugee
camps in the northeast, where the government is investigating the alleged
theft of food aid.
A soldier on the frontline of the fight told The Associated Press that his
brigade commander is among officers standing trial at the court-martial in
this northeastern city, which is being held in secret. He said the army is
investigating what happened to 21 anti-aircraft guns assigned this year to
his artillery brigade. He said they only received one gun. The soldier
spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared he would lose his job.
In addition, a slew of retired and current military officers are being
investigated for diverting hundreds of millions of dollars budgeted to
help curb the Islamic uprising. Among them is Alex Badeh, a four-star
general whom Buhari fired from his post as chief of defense staff.
Witnesses have told a Federal High Court that Badeh stole the equivalent
of $24 million budgeted for salaries in 2013 and built a shopping mall in
Abuja, the capital.
Civil society groups are demanding the investigation of the current chief
of army staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, for allegedly buying with cash two
properties worth $1.5 million in Dubai. Buratai has said he bought the
property on installment with savings.
Before Buhari took power, soldiers told the AP they were forced into
battle with just 30 bullets each and no food rations. They said Boko Haram
was better armed and that their officers were stealing parts of their
salaries and allowances. Many ran away when the extremists attacked,
allowing Boko Haram to take control of a large swath of northeastern
Nigeria in 2014.
Under Buhari, a former military dictator, a multinational force has
retaken most towns but Boko Haram remains active outside urban areas,
carrying out hit-and-run attacks, suicide bombings and abductions of women
and girls.
VOA