Skip to main content

Nigerian soldiers in Maiduguri refuse to return to Baga

Image

Some Soldiers and Officers of the Nigerian Military in the front lines of the raging battles against terrorists in Baga, - a flourishing fishing community on the shoreline of the Lake Chad basin, close to the border with the Republic of Chad - have refused to be re-deployed to their base, after it was overrun by fighters of the Islamic State of West Africa Provence (ISWAP).

Many of the soldiers protesting the order to be relocated back to their post, - the 7 Brigade of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), the headquarters of the Coalition set up by the leaders of the four Lake Chad countries, fighting Boko Haram – are demoralized against fighters who go to battle with a dogma that is alien to the Nigerian military.  

Some of the soldiers that fled Baga when their base was attacked on the 26th December 2018 said, they are not interested in mutiny or desertion, but they will not come back to their duty post as cannon fodders any more, “until we see better welfare and security arrangements that will enable us discharge our duties as expected of us by Nigerians,” said a soldier in Maiduguri who pleaded for anonymity. 

The attack that started at 7pm and lasted all night, led to the massive loss of arms and ammunition and other military hardware, though the casualty on the Military was never given, multiple sources told Sahara Reporters that dozens of soldiers were taken alive by the terrorist group. “Most of the soldiers that witnessed the ugly incidence in Baga and elsewhere are insisting on not leaving Maiduguri. We do not want to desert like some of our colleagues, we want to stay and fight on, but we want better conditions,” said another soldier who also pleaded for anonymity for fear of victimization. 

Following the attack on Metele and Baga, the Military has been backing away or retreating from smaller bases and units across the region to fewer strategic locations in order to secure themselves from what has now become an embarrassing Boko Haram war victory, after two years of sustained official narratives that claimed to have technically defeated the groups.

The Nigerian Military, in the past few months has been a subject of ugly incidences, in addition to its bases being overrun and the unfortunate crash of a military helicopter in Damasak, killing all five officers on board, soldiers have been posting videos and audios of being given inadequate war gears and left in miserable conditions. This is occurring on the heels of human rights abuses, levelled against the Nigerian military by Amnesty International and other organization, including the media, which the military vehemently denied.