Fear as angry soldiers shoot at GOC in Maiduguri…Boko Haram fingered

Angry Nigerian soldiers

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Ahmadu Mohammed, a Major General, narrowly escaped death on Wednesday when aggrieved soldiers opened fire on his official vehicle, as he arrived to address them at the Maimalari Military Barracks in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

Sources close to the military barracks disclosed to SHOWBIZPLUSng that some troops who went to Chibok Local Government area for an operation where over 234 schoolgirls were recently abducted by suspected Boko Haram terrorists carried out the mutiny against their boss after returning to Maiduguri. 

There are also fears that the attack might be the handiwork of Boko Haram insurgents, whom many alleged had infiltrated the barracks.

One of the sources spoke of how they were on their way back to Maiduguri when they realised that the Maiduguri-Damboa road was not safe, as darkness had set in, and then requested the GOC to allow them spend the night in one of the villages considered to be safe for them.

The GOC was said to have insisted that the soldiers must come back to Maiduguri the same night.

However, on their way back to Maiduguri, according to investigation, the soldiers were ambushed by suspected terrorists, and many of them (soldiers) were killed.

Military sources further said when the GOC tried to address troops on the ongoing operation against the insurgents, the soldiers on sighting the arrival of corpses of their deceased colleagues got angry and started shooting sporadically.

Some of them were said to have indeed intentionally opened fire on the GOC’s vehicle but that he narrowly escaped.

“What angered the soldiers most is the unnecessary deduction of their allowances and subjecting them to harsh working conditions without proper equipment to carry out their rules of engagement.

“As a result of this, many of them were being killed like rats by the insurgents,” a source noted.

A statement later last night from the Defence Headquarters said the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army is to institute a military board of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conduct of the soldiers who fired some shots while the GOC was addressing the troops.

The statement issued by the Director, Defence Information/Coordinator, Chris Olukolade, a Major General, said the incident occurred when the corpses of four soldiers who died in an ambush while returning from patrol duties in Chibok was being conveyed to the morgue.

He said there is now calm in the cantonment and that all normal operations activities are ongoing .

Another report said residents of Kalabalge village also in Borno State took their destiny in their hands on Tuesday when they fought off gun-wielding Boko Haram insurgents who invaded the village in an early morning attack.

The villagers succeeded in killing several of the invaders and arrested about 10 of them alive.

The insurgents had repeatedly attempted to attack Kalabalge, an agro-nomad community near the Cameroon borders, but failed to gain entry into the village on each attempt.

Eyewitnesses said the villagers had made security preparations around the village and this has made it impossible for the Boko Haram terrorist to launch successful attacks.

The village is the headquarters of Kalabalge Local Government area of Borno State.

“We have told them (Boko Haram) that they cannot take their attacks to our village because, we have taken measures both security wise and spiritually to prevent them,” said a vigilance member in the community who did not give his name when he spoke to a news agency on phone.

“They wanted to attack us just the way they did in Bama, Konduga and Damboa, but we got the wind of it and all of us laid ambush for them; when they neared the village, we opened fire using our dane guns, double barrel rifles and bows and arrows.

“Most of them who were shocked took to their heels, but many of them died, some that were injured have been caught alive and are with the security people as I am talking to you”, said the vigilance member.

An official of the State Security Service (SSS) who pleads anonymity confirmed the incident to reporters on phone.

“The insurgents tried to attack the village as at 5.00 a.m. (on Tuesday) but the vigilante and some members of the village who got the hint of the attack laid ambush and were able to kill as many of them as possible, while about ten of them were caught alive; they also recovered two trucks from the insurgents,” the security source said.

The Boko Haram has raided several villages in Borno State, killing thousands of people and destroying countless property.