The General Officer commanding the 3rd Army Division in Jos, Major General JS Zaruwa was shocked to find so many soldiers roaming the streets of Michika in Adamawa State when he made a private visit to his home in the area.
The soldiers deserted Biita after Boko Haram militants returned to avenge a rout of their men a week ago.
Upon seeing the soldiers hanging out mostly around a brothel known as “BOLINGO” with their rifles slung around their shoulders, the army General invited Lt. Colonel BMG Martins, the commanding Officer of the Special Operations Battalion who also doubles as their commanding officer, to call them to order, or arrest them enmasse our source said.
Martins then ordered several unit commanders, to rein in the boys but an apparently unperturbed rank and file refused to take his orders.
SaharaReporters was told by an army team engaging in intelligence in the area that the issue of discipline, specifically the refusal of soldiers to listen to their superiors and unwarranted abandonment of fighting positions, have become a big concern to the authorities in Abuja.
The soldiers who were sacked from army posts in Biita and Izge-Damboa in Borno state by Boko Haram fighters have remained in Michika, refusing the order by the GOC to return to their posts.
Some of the soldiers said they will not return to the frontlines unless they are provided with adequate equipment to confidently confront Boko Haram.
According to the soldiers, the army has only one functioning armored tank in the entire area, the armored tank in deployed to guard Vimtin in Mubi local government of Adamawa State. Vimtin is the hometown of Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh, Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff
By SaharaReporters, New York
