A former Aviation Minister has risen in support of police who absconded after deployment to fight Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria’s North East region.
In recent, years, thousands of policemen have been consumed by the insurgency.
In his Twitter handle on Thursday, Femi Fani-Kayode alleged that the runaway policemen drafted to fight Boko Haram are mainly Christians from the Southern Nigeria.
Premium Times reported on December 26 that 167 policemen who were on training at the Nigerian Army Special Forces Training School in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, Wednesday abandoned their duties and fled with their respective riffles for fear of joining the military to combat the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists especially communities along Nigeria’s border with Niger and Chad Republic.
Although the Nigerian Army and Police have said that no officer absconded from the training, Fani-Kayode alleged that the officers were mainly from southern Nigeria.
“Out of the 167 “runaway policemen” that were assigned to fight Boko Haram, 91% were Christian and 88% were southerners,” he tweeted.
“Can you blame them for running? No matter how many Christmas carols he sings, Buhari’s ethnic and religious agenda is becoming more obvious by the day.”
The Nigerian military has reacted to reports that over 150 among the 2,000 policemen deployed to fight Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East absconded from their counter-insurgency military training exercise at the Special Forces School, Buni-Yadi, Yobe State.
Brigadier-General A. S. Ishaq, the Coordinator of Nigeria Police Force for Operation Lafiya-Dole (NPFOLD), in a chat with PRNigeria, said there was nothing like desertion, but just a case of some recalcitrant personnel leaving their training base for a reason which was not cogent.
The top Army officer added that the special training, which should have been concluded last Friday, was extended by one week to enable the policemen partake in all the requisite military combat exercises before they depart the camp.
He said: “The policemen didn’t abscond as alleged in media reports. What happened was that some of the police officers insisted on going for the Christmas holiday.
“But in line with standard military operations, there was no way officers undergoing special training on a combat-operation, could leave their base when the training exercise has not rounded up.
“So, we refused to grant them permission. However, the unruly ones among them left our Special Forces School at Buni-Yadi, venue of the training.
“But thank God, the unruly personnel were tracked at Damaturu, the state’s capital. Right now, some of them have been brought back to the School”.
General Ishaq disclosed that the counter-insurgency training’s Passing-Out-Parade for the personnel will take place this Friday.
Reacting, Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, the Police Force Public Relations Officer (PRO), said that all the 2,000 policemen deployed have reported and are on the ground on combat operation prosecuting the war against insurgency along with the military.
In a press release he signed, the police spokesperson added that the deployed Police personnel are in high moral and spirit for the operation.
The Force spokesperson added that: “This story (of absconding) was investigated and it was found out not to be correct, there is no reason whatsoever that Police personnel deployed for the operations in the North East would abscond.
“The Police Mobile Force (PMF) personnel have been engaged actively in the front line along with the Military in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group since the inception of the insurgency.
“These 2,000 police officers recently deployed are in addition to several thousands of Police personnel already engaged in the fight against the insurgency with the military in the North East.
“The personnel deployed are in high morale and high spirit in the operation. The Force sees the story as a deliberate attempt to promote insurgency and dampen the morale of officers and Men of the Police and other services who on daily basis lay down their lives to protect our dear nation.”
However, the police authority has sent an alert to 25 mopol units in 20 states in the country, with their names and service numbers attached to arrest the culprits.
Like the military, the officers in the rank-and-file cadre are likely to face orderly room proceeding if found and disciplinary actions could range from long suspension to outright dismissal, depending on the trial officer and individual context.
