Some Northern groups on Friday expressed shock over the latest revelation that former military chiefs were involved in a monumental financial misconduct, asking President Muhammadu Buhari to try them for war crimes.
Their anger came amid directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should probe the alleged misconduct established against some retired and serving officers of the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Army.
A statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had said that the President’s directive followed the recommendation of the committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the Armed Forces and Defence sector from 2007 to 2015.
The Deputy National Chairman, Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Paul Nnongo, was furious that such a monumental financial misconduct was carried by the ex-military chiefs.
“If it is true that the former military chiefs got money to buy arms, which they did not buy eventually, then, this is bad,” the octogenarian said.
He said such a brazen misconduct might have contributed to why protracted killings by the Boko Haram insurgents went on for nearly a decade in the North-East.
According to him, if a President of a country cannot control, punish and discipline its military, there is tendency for the institution to drift like it happened under the former President and the former military chiefs.
He said the action of the former chiefs compromised the ethics of their profession, saying if they were really committed to the anti-Boko Haram fight, the activities of the insurgents would have long been contained.
Nnogo noted that the military under the immediate former President was a clear contrast to the military under the United States President, Barack Obama, who is always on the top of the security situation in his country.
“If Obama finds that any military chief has compromised the interest of the US, he disciplines him,” he said.
Nnongo, however, described efforts by Buhari to probe the activities of the former military chiefs as a brave act.
Also, Dr. Junaid Mohammed of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, said the sooner the EFCC arrested the former military chiefs for prosecution, the better for Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
He said, “I am happy that the EFCC has woken to its responsibilities. I have been demanding this from the moment Buhari was sworn in. These people should be arrested because some of them would run away.
“Badeh can run away because he is a trained pilot and has access to some of the planes, both helicopters and other planes. The sooner the EFCC and the police arrest him and keep him in their custody for as long as possible, the better it is for the entire country.
“And those who have the illusion that somehow democracy means, you come to steal money and nobody questions you have come to relearn democracy. It is so sad that this arrest is coming after the death of thousands of Nigerians whose deaths Badeh and his colleagues are directly responsible for. I sincerely pray for the souls of those who died in the course of the mishandled operations in the North-East and I hope that those who are holding similar positions and those who will hold the positions in future are not going to behave like Sambo Dasukis, Alex Badehs, Ihejirika, Minimah and others, so we can have armed forces that are patriotic and we can rely on them to protect our motherland and guarantee our safety.
Similarly, Secretary, Borno Elders’ Forum, Bulama Mali Gubio, wondered why the former security chiefs have not been arrested before now.
He said, “These people killed our people, what more evidence do we need? We called for their arrest a long time ago. Badeh admitted presiding over an ill equipped army, he should be tried for war crimes, what else do they want again? “When we called for his arrest at that time, they were calling us names, saying we were anti-government. The same Badeh presided over an ill-equipped army, saying he just watched as soldiers were killed, our communities were destroyed, our people were massacred.”
Coordinator, Federation of Middle belt People, Mannasey Watyil, hailed the order directing the arrest of Badeh and other former security chiefs.
Watyl said their arrest and subsequent trial would serve as deterrent to others.
He said, “What we have been fighting for is that corruption should be dealt with. We support the arrest of any corrupt officer to serve as deterrent to others; the directive is in a right direction.
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