FG has made new allegations against the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan.
The Federal Government has said whatever weapons that were procured
by the Jonathan Administration for the military to prosecute the war
against terrorism were substandard and could not have been responsible
for the string of successes recorded by the military in recent times.
In a statement issued in Abeokuta on Monday, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described as unfortunate
and unsubstantiated the statement credited to former President Goodluck
Jonathan attributing the recent successes in the war to the weapons
allegedly bought by his Administration that were delivered after he had
left office.
He said the present Administration owes it a duty to put the record
straight, especially because the issues raised by the former President
are of public interest and borders on national security.
”The weapons, munitions and equipment which the former
President said he bought were refurbished and lacked the basic
components and spare parts. Additionally, the ammunition bought for both
high calibre and small weapons have mostly expired, incompatible with
weapons and grossly inadequate.
”It is pertinent to state that the ammunition he was referring
to were back loaded because they explode within the barrel when fired,
thus leading to deaths and injuries among soldiers,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He explained that the troops also lacked the much-needed lift and
operational vehicles and other equipment which they needed for an
effective prosecution of the war, until the present Administration
ameliorated the situation.
”The situation was so pathetic that soldiers were often
transported in Civilian JTF vehicles, civilian vehicles, trailers and
water tankers when going to the theatres of operation. The revelations
on the sorry state of things in the past, which have emanated from the
investigative panel so far, point clearly to the kind of legacy
bequeathed to this administration by the past government.
”That explains why troops remained largely static and were
unable to effectively deploy to completely rout the Boko Haram
terrorists in all their known enclaves. The high level of casualties
sustained by our gallant soldiers was most unprecedented and cannot be
compared to any known military operations in recent times, all because
of the terrible state of affairs suffered by the military under the
Jonathan Administration,” the Minister said.
He said apparently because former President Jonathan could not
understand how credible and dedicated leadership could impact positively
on the morale and performance of troops, he has chosen to denigrate the
system for the unprecedented feat that was achieved within the first
six months of the Buhari Administration – something that he could not
achieve in all of six years!
”It is also clear, as has been shown so far by the outcome of
the panel probing past arms deals, that the purchase of substandard
weapons apparently resulted from the massive corruption that enveloped
the deals, the kind of horrifying graft that saw the purchase of
refurbished choppers that lacked rotors, or fighter jets that could not
be deployed to the theatre of war because they were not up to par.
”The needless loss of lives of many of our gallant troops,
resulting from the lack of standard weaponry and low morale in the past,
is not a matter to be trivialized under any circumstance,” the Minister said.
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abeokuta
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