In the video, a Christian soldier leads the prayer for Christians which is followed by Muslim prayer.
Operatives of the Nigerian Army Force are seen in a viral video on social media begging God to provide them with good weapons before proceeding to launch an attack against terrorists.
In the video, a Christian soldier leads the prayer for Christians which is followed by Muslim prayer.
While praying, one of the soldiers asks God to give them good weapons
"Our enemies shall be in shame in the mighty name of Jesus. We shall destroy them in the mighty name of Jesus. Our weapons… Father give us good weapons," says one of the soldiers.
In 2020, during interview sessions with SaharaReporters, security experts said intelligence failure, lack of weapons and training are responsible for the prolonged insurgency in Nigeria.
Ona Ekhomu told SaharaReporters that the intelligence infrastructure in the war against Boko Haram was faulty, leading to ambushes during critical operations.
He said, "The dynamics of the war against insurgency are changing and perhaps the entire military high command has to figure out how to change with that dynamic.
"Take for example the battle commission that they have which is an integrated battle commission whereby when there is an attack or when there is a legal operation, the air cover provides support for the ground troops.
“In fact most of the times, the air troops go and get the bad guys then the ground troops move in for mop-ups so the battle plan is sound but we still have attacks here and there which is quite rehabilitating.
"You know, the frequency of attacks, the widespread nature of attacks, what that says to me is that the intelligence infrastructure is very faulty. We don't have enough intelligence, so we are not able to learn of their (Boko Haram) intentions before they carry out operations. So, this is a problem with the intelligence community (IC) that is the DSS (Department of State Services), the DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency), and so on.
"That is where the government really needs to focus on as a fighting army. The war has dragged out for so long and as you know if you stay in the toilet for so long, you will see a lot of flies.”
Lawrence Alobi, a former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, told SaharaReporters that one of the biggest barriers to winning the war against insurgency in the country remained lack of funding.
Alabi said without funding and access to the latest technology and weapons, troops have no chance in confronting the insurgents.
He said, "The government is doing its best in line with section 35 of the constitution which says the primary responsibility of government is protection and wellbeing of the citizens.
"Security is something that is key and central without which there will be no government, no development. There is nowhere with total security because life is dynamic. For instance, the issue of COVID-19 was never there and right now it has brought about some challenges for the government.
"They (government) have gotten to a situation where they are going after soft targets. The government has not been able to fund and equip the security agencies which include the military and the police because they are both fighting this war in the northeast.
"So, I think they need to be motivated, they need to be well equipped because security now is technology driven and that requires funding, to gather intelligence, to have weapons and training. The officers and men need to be trained for them to have the capacity to confront the terrorists."