We Will Find Chibok Girls When We Capture Sambisa Forest - Army Boss

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Kenneth Minimah, speaks with a team of journalists on the 2015 elections, war against terror, Chibok girls as well as the trial of soldiers for alleged mutiny in the course of the insurgency war. CHRIS AGBAMBU presents excerpts:

How do you feel about General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s peace committee on 2015 elections, his visit to the military headquarters and his commendation of the army?

We are filled with humility that the committee has been watching and observing what we have been doing. I think it was a pleasant commendation. It was a surprise to us that they wanted to come and thank us and commend us for what we have done.

As the CDS said, most of us here today are products of democracy. My colleagues and I have always believed that the Nigerian military is better off under a democratic government because our needs are addressed more than under a military government. In that wise, we believe strongly that the military will be able to sustain the performance of its constitutional roles in the democratic process.

We were humbled that we were commended by a committee of this level. I think it is also a reflection of the feelings of the citizens. A good percentage of the elite in the country believed that we did our best in the first election, so, they urged us to do better in the second election.

You know, there were different stories about what the Nigerian military, and particularly the Nigerian army, is up to. People went to court; that the military should not be used to do this and that, but at the end of the day, a winner emerged and the army was not in any way blacklisted for any acts of impropriety.

Troops had to be deployed to ensure that there was security and there was no violence. A good atmosphere was provided for the citizens to come out and vote, without fearing for their lives, without fear of intimidation. I am sure everybody came out and voted.

Would you say soldiers performed well in the elections or were there hitches?

If you are asking me to score myself, I would score myself 100 per cent because, given our level of political development, we cannot expect to see elections held here as they are done in advanced nations. We are still bogged down by prejudices, like interparty issues. The issues of violence, ballot box snatching and confusions around polling units have to do with our level of political development. But the more our democracy and electioneering develop, the more the people will learn that thuggery cannot change results.

We have a responsibility to ensure peace. We have a responsibility to ensure that there is no violence. We have a responsibility to ensure that the country is stable. And from our own perspective, we achieved what we set out for. We deployed personnel in the possible flashpoints, where violence starts, where people converge to hatch ideas other than positivity. Drawing lessons from the post-election violence of 2011, we deployed personnel in all those areas and hooligans, vandals and thugs did not have freedom of action. Of course, there will be people who, for whatever reasons, will never accept defeat; they will never agree they lost, they will keep crying foul, but majority of law abiding citizens believe that the deployment of soldiers calmed everywhere and enabled the people to come out and vote.

How was the North-East secured for election in six weeks?

I am sure that before the postponement, the atmosphere in the North-East was charged with violent activities of Boko Haram. They had a handful of local governments across three states. They had threatened to disrupt the elections. There were those who feared that the Nigerian military did not have the capacity to do much within the time frame to reduce the menace and invincibility of the terrorists. Anyone could have as well believed that it was not going to be possible. But today, the reality on ground has vindicated the armed forces of Nigeria, because so much has been done that as of today, we are already moving into Sambisa forest and, hopefully, very soon, military action will be rested in the North-East.

At the last Council of State meeting, most of the speakers disagreed and wondered what could be done if, in the last five years, they couldn’t do anything. ‘Is it by miracle or what that they would achieve this?’ Of course, I convinced them that it was very much achievable, more so that our neighbours, who had been lukewarm, all of a sudden, decided to join the battle. They realised that if Nigeria eventually defeats this terrorism, it will empty into their territories if they do not join the war.

Chad had to join the war for economic reasons; to reopen the routes. Much of their goods and services were coming from Cameroon and Nigeria, so, they had no choice but to join the war. Niger Republic also joined the war because they knew their country was like a destination for Boko Haram fighters and their arms and ammunition. And sometimes, the place was used for the indoctrination and recruitment of individuals. They decided to join the war because, to me, they saw that we were going to chase these elements and they would run into their countries. Prior to this time, these countries were sanctuaries to Boko Haram terrorists.

Cameroon did not show much enthusiasm until the (Boko Haram) fighters moved in en masse into Cameroon and started causing destruction, killing, kidnapping and so forth. They realised they also had to fight Boko Haram terrorists. I tried to explain to that body (Council of State) that with our contiguous neighbours showing greater enthusiasm to participate in the war, the end was near, because all we need now is to push them and they cannot run into any of those countries. Once they all block their borders, we are good to go, and of course, it was reluctantly agreed. And today, we are witnesses to what has become of it. So, it is a feat that was never thought of but we have achieved it.

How would you react to allegations that Nigerian troops are reluctant to take over territories captured by foreign troops?

It is common knowledge that the Nigerian Army has been demanding equipment from the government. It is common knowledge, too, that part of the problems of the war against insurgency has been lack of requisite modern equipment for the armed forces. It is common knowledge, too, that the equipment the Nigerian army had were old and obsolete and that we were doing local repairs to maintain them. It is common knowledge, too, that the Nigerian troops were running from battle. It is also common knowledge that the government was doing everything to buy equipment for the army.

At one point, these equipment came and with my personal effort of ensuring that officers and soldiers were court-martialled, dismissed for running in the face of adversary. For abandoning the equipment we have and running away, the psyche of the Nigerian soldier changed, the equipment that arrived changed the battle dynamics, platform. Everything reversed, the terrorists started running, and we changed the battle.

Are you saying that you have no regrets convening the court martial?

Jesus Christ! One million times, I will redo it. The courts are still on.

In spite of the public outcry?

Is it the public that is fighting the battle? It is not the public. Public has its say, but war has to be fought and in fighting a war, there must be sanctions for people who breach the process.

Now, how would you reconcile the fact the soldiers were running when there were lack of new equipment and the fact that the equipment are now there and they are not running anymore; that they now know they can face the enemies with what they have?

Okay, what you do not know, too, is that the battle had been turned before the equipments arrived. The average officer has realised now that if he ran, he would be court-martialled. The soldier knows that if he ran away, he would be dismissed. So, everybody was prepared to stand and fight. For the fact that they stood and fought, the Boko Haram fighters were surprised. Their leaders ran and said, ‘these people are not Nigerians, because before, when they came and fired, eventually, everybody ran away. Now, people are staying to fight back.’ In sustained fights for hours, they said, ‘no, we don’t understand these people.’ Then, they ran away. That was how it started.

We held Konduga I, Konduga II, Konduga III. When the other Mr Shekau, I don’t know the number he is, was killed, it was the old equipment and it’s the soldiers themselves that said, ‘no way, we are not running anywhere.’ They remained there, and that was when the ice broke. The equipment arrived six weeks ago.

It is the soldier that fights, not equipment. If I had set up the court martial as soon as I came, we wouldn’t have lost all those territories, because at one point, they would have realised that they had to stand and fight. How can it become fashionable that soldiers are running? Soldiers were even telling civilians in Mubi, ‘Boko Haram dey come! Boko Haram dey come!’ They were running and now, you want me to listen to a person who says why didn’t we do it since? Why did I set up the court martial?

How effective is the offensive against insurgency now?

I will tell you that militarily, they (Boko Haram) are defeated, but armed robbery, or people going about stealing, burning markets and looting and going back into the forests will continue for a while. Other programmes of the government will take care of those. Bomb explosions also happen in civilised worlds where there are no terrorists.

With the success so far, are there any leads as regards the rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls?

Yes, by the time we capture Sambisa forest completely, we will be able to find out where the Chibok girls are. As of now, nobody appears to know where exactly they are. But when we capture Sambisa forest, we will be able to know where they are and the government will take it from there.

Can you do a projection into where the war against Boko Haram will be in the next six months?

You know, the Nigerian is one creature with a large accommodation of mind. His memory shifts and he forgets everything that had happened. In the next six months, I am sure that Nigerians would have forgotten that Boko Haram once reigned and terrorised a region. I believe so.

We Will Find Chibok Girls When We Capture Sambisa Forest - Army Boss