Segun Atanda/
Civil War hero, Brig-Gen Godwin Alabi-Isama, has told the Nigerian Army and other security agencies some home truth today over the abduction of 110 students by Boko Haram terrorists in Dapchi, Yobe State.
Gen Alabi-Isama described the Nigerian authorities as incompetent and ineffective, when he called-in to share his views on a TVC News programme, hosted by Mr Yori Folarin, featuring a member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian, Dr Luke Onyekakeya. He also slammed President Muhammadu Buhari for what he did and didn’t do as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, after the 110 students of Government Girls Science and Technical College were abducted on February 19.
‘You said you have just commissioned a drone. Jonathan commissioned another drone before. Why will you say they are commissioning a new drone? Look! The country is traumatized for God’s sake. It’s so bad that this story is all over the world; that Nigeria is so incompetent and inefficient.’
This is what Gen Alabi Isama said on the News programme monitored by NewsmakersNG: “I’m so unhappy. I’ve never called on telephone before to a television. The country is traumatized. The Army and the Police are tired; particularly the Police. All you need to do when you have an operation on whatever, which you already have in that area is a Joint-Task-Force. In the operational command centre, there will be the police, the DSS, all the Intelligence; everybody would be in that headquarters. Everybody will report to that headquarters.
“Army handing over to the police there is a complete nonsense. In an operation like that, even if you’re handing over to the police, it’s a Joint-Task-Force. There’ll be police and the army at the roadblocks.
“You have roadblocks from Lagos to Ilorin, about 15 of them; you have roadblocks from Port Harcourt to Enugu, another 15 of them. Is that a war zone? Don’t you have a key point in that area? And this is a quiet area. That means there is no war going on there. The Boko Haram people will not be in an area where they are fighting. They will go to an area which is peaceful.
“And don’t you have a governor there that is collecting security votes? Don’t you have Local Government chairmen and senators collecting constituency allowances? You have one million to fight Boko Haram. How much did Boko Haram vote to fight the Army? The Boko Haram now has the initiative. It’s the Intelligence you need. You need to help the police, not blaming the police.
“You said you have just commissioned a drone. Jonathan commissioned another drone before. Why will you say they are commissioning a new drone? Look! The country is traumatized for God’s sake. It’s so bad that this story is all over the world; that Nigeria is so incompetent and inefficient.”
On what the President should have done immediately the students were abducted, Gen Alabi-Isama made reference to what the guest on the TV programme, Dr Onyekakeya said about a Bible account (Genesis 14: 14) of how Abraham immediately went after invaders and rescued his people who were abducted when he was away.
He said, “That gentleman there made a mention of a verse in the Bible. If you read my book (The Tragedy of Victory: On the Spot Account of the Nigeria-Biafra War in the Atlantic Theatre), that verse is also there. It’s a complete strategy. The intelligence that the Army will use is the intelligence of the Police, which Obasanjo cancelled in 1978. They called it E-Brand. I hope they still have the E-Brand. They have the DSS taking Toro Kobo (little money) because somebody stole money. Look, you need more intelligence for you to help the Police; for the Police to help the Army.
“You cannot put radio in that place, because if you give to the Muslim, some of the Boko Haram are Muslims. If you give to Christians, the story will leak out. The DSS and the Intelligence of the country must help the police.
“And the army commander has a theatre that will have an operation area, and that command post will have everybody in there. Intelligence must come everyday from each city.”
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