ABUJA, Nigeria (Chatnewstv.com) — Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd), has revealed that the Navy and Air Force leadership were uneasy when the coordination of the counter-insurgency campaign against Boko Haram was placed under the control of the Nigerian Army Headquarters.
Irabor made the disclosure in his new book titled “Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum.”
“In contrast to the provisions of the NDP, the coordination of the operation was undertaken by Army HQ at some point, such that the leadership of the other services (Navy and Air Force), whose forces contributed to the operation, felt uncomfortable with such an arrangement,” Irabor wrote.
The retired general, who served as Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole between March 2016 and May 2017, said the military was forced to rely on outdated and abandoned vehicles during parts of the campaign due to the poor state of equipment in the North East.
“It is worth noting that at a particular stage of operation, the Lafiya Dole theatre’s equipment disposition was deplorable,” he said. “In order to boost the fighting capability of the forces, therefore, we resorted to scavenging dilapidated and abandoned vehicles.”
According to Irabor, some of the vehicles used in the fight against Boko Haram dated back to the Nigerian Civil War. He also disclosed that the then Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, had authorised the use of trucks originally procured for road construction and tractors meant for mechanised farming to support the troops.
The revelations echo past reports of frustration within the ranks over inadequate weapons and logistics. In 2014, several soldiers deployed in Borno were court-martialled after protesting poor equipment and conditions on the frontline. Some were sentenced to death for mutiny, though the sentences were later commuted.
Irabor’s account offers a rare insider perspective on the operational and logistical challenges that shaped Nigeria’s long war against Boko Haram.
