Boko Haram leader Abubakar ShekauA new report suggests that corrupt army officers in Nigeria have been supplying some of its arms and ammunition to Boko Haram terrorist group.
The report published on Sunday, September 4 by the Associated Press, revealed that several top-ranking military commanders were being secretly investigated for offenses related to the fight against Boko Haram, including the theft and sale of ammunition.
Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the theater commander, told a news conference on Thursday, September 1, that military authorities have confirmed that some soldiers were selling arms and ammunition to Boko Haram, calling it a betrayal of the Nigerian people
A soldier on the frontline of the fight speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, said that his brigade commander is among officers standing trial at the court-martial which is being held in secret.
He said the army is investigating what happened to 21 anti-aircraft guns assigned this year to his artillery brigade, adding that they only received one gun.
The military said three weeks ago that 16 officers and troops had been charged in the case by a military tribunal.
Other reports have suggested that the military is also investigating a group of retired and current officers for misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars, which was assigned to the army for the fight against Boko Haram. Alex Badeh, a four-star general and Nigeria’s former chief of defense staff, is one of the main
suspects.
More than 20,000 people have been killed since a militancy began seven years ago by Boko Haram, a terrorist group which is mostly based in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries.
The militants have pledged allegiance to Daesh, a group mainly based in the Middle East.
About a few days ago, Major General Lucky Irabor said that Nigeria’s army expects to seize Boko Haram’s last few strongholds in the northeast over the next few weeks.
The commander of the operation (Irabor), said the jihadists were now holed up in a few pockets of the Sambisa forest where more than 200 girls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in 2014 are believed to be held and two areas near Lake Chad and would be flushed out “within weeks”.
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