Soldier mutiny: GOC redeployed after angry soldiers open fire on him

By Ehi Ekhator

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed who barely escaped death on Wednesday after a group of angry soldiers open fire on him in Maiduguri while attempting to address them, has been redeployed by the Defence Headquarters

Though the Defence Headquarters earlier said it was an internal affair and has been resolved, described the incident as sad and also launched an inquiry to look into the incident.

Information gathered that the GOC who tried to protect his boss during the incident was injured in the process.

He assured that the military will maintain the ongoing anti terrorism war against the insurgents despite the GOC redeployment. He said . “Let me assure that the military will sustain the current tempo in the fight against insurgents. The training of the Nigerian Army is such that this kind of change will not affect negatively the disposition of the troops in the fight against agents of insurgency in the country,” Olukolade said.Confirming the GOC’s redeployment yesterday, Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, at a briefing in Maiduguri said: “The GOC has been redeployed based on the decision of the headquarters.”

Continuing, he said “The GOC or his aides were not wounded during the incident. Let me say again that nobody was injured during the incident.”

 “the Nigerian Army is poised to uphold its principle of discipline and loyalty to service.”

Explaining what happenened, the Defence Headquarter spokesperson said: “On May 13, our troops who had been on an assignment in Chibok and had been patrolling were returning to Maiduguri when they were ambushed in Dalwa few kilometres to the city. One officer and five soldiers were killed, while a number of others were wounded. The division embarked on the normal recovery processes to recover the wounded soldiers for treatment and to evacuate the bodies of those killed to the morgue.

“The General Officer Commanding (GOC) was touched by the incident, so he wanted to sympathise with the troops by addressing those present. In the process some soldiers became unruly and began to fire some shots into the air. The situation was quickly brought under control and normalcy restored as there was calm in the cantonment and all normal operational activities are ongoing.”

“It is not in the character of the Nigerian soldier to be unruly. The inquiry will come out with the exact situation of things upon which the military authorities will take the next action. The ongoing inquiry will provide a lasting solution to what happened on May 13”.

Though the spokesperson did not reveal who the panel of inquiry is composed of, but he assured that the issue will be resolved soon. The GOC, Major General Ahamdu Mohammed was replaced with Brigadier General Mahmud Yakubu Ibrahim who was to act as GOC with immediate effect.

Soldier mutiny: GOC redeployed after angry soldiers open fire on him