Buhari Plans 'Mass Retirement' Of Corrupt Military Leaders

One of the first major actions to be taken by President-elect Muhammadu

Buhari on assumption of office is a massive shake-up of the military,
TheCable understands.

There will be a “mass retirement” of
senior officers who are believed to have corruptly enriched themselves
or “who abandoned professionalism for politics”, sources in the know of
the plan told TheCable.

Already, a small group has been set
up quietly to work out the modalities for the shake-up and scout
possible replacements for those to be weeded out.

Most likely to
be affected are officers who allegedly mismanaged funds meant for
military operations, those who colluded with crude oil thieves and those
who engaged in political activities in 
breach of their professional
duties.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his congratulatory
letter to Buhari after the March 28 election, had urged the
president-elect to reform the military, saying “so much harm [had been]
done to many national institutions including the military, which proudly
nurtured you and me”.

Obasanjo, on assuming office in 1999,
retired all officers who had held political appointments — an action
thought to have helped prevent a possible coup after several military
interventions in the nation’s history.

Buhari is a retired
major-general who had commanded all the divisions in the Nigerian army
before becoming head of state in 1983 after a coup. He was retired in
August 1985 following his ouster his chief of army staff, Ibrahim
Babangida, now a retired general.

An insider in Buhari’s circle
told TheCable: “The military has been politicised and bastardised in the
last few years. Corruption has reached unprecedented levels with the
oil theft in the Niger Delta and haphazard anti-terror war.

“Nobody
can say sincerely that the leadership of the military has lived up to
expectations. We need a professional military. We cannot be relying on
neighbouring countries to be bailing us out of our internal issues.
Buhari will transform the military to an institution of pride for all
Nigerians again.”

TheCable could not ascertain the extent of the
planned purge, apart from the expected change of service chiefs and
division commanders.

But the primary aim of the planned changes, the source added, is to rid the military of “greedy and unprofessional officers”.

The
military has come under scrutiny in recent years over its seeming
failure to curb terror and oil theft as well as corruption in the top
hierarchy.

In the north-east operations against Boko Haram, there
were reports that monies meant for the allowances of troops were being
diverted to private pockets.

Instead of the monthly allowance of
N30,000, the troops were reportedly getting N15,000 with no satisfactory
official explanation on what happened to the balance.

The troops
were also allegedly being given only three sachets of “pure water” per
day in the desert heat and lacked sleeping kits.

Their food
supplies for the day were allegedly brought at once in the morning, a
situation that saw them eating cold lunch and sour dinner.

Many
troops were also battle-weary and suffering psychological trauma but did
not get the necessary support from the authorities, leading to several
cases of mutiny which resulted in death sentences for soldiers found
guilty of refusing to fight.

At some stage last year, troops
fired shots at the commander of the 7th division in Maiduguri, Borno
state, Ahmed Mohammed, a major general, who narrowly escaped death in
the hands of the frustrated soldiers.

He was immediately
transferred from the division, which was created by President Goodluck
Jonathan specifically to fight Boko Haram insurgents.

These
deficiencies, compounded by the perceived superior firepower of the Boko
Haram militants, were largely held responsible for the prolonged war
against terror which only came to live when the February 14 presidential
election was postponed by six weeks.

Also, Daily Trust
newspaper reported last year that the army top brass had shared part of a
land meant for barracks in the Asokoro District of Abuja, a further
evidence of the rot in the military.

It said the 439
beneficiaries of the landgrab included spouses, relations, friends,
associates and companies owned by senior army officials.

Kenneth
Minimah, a lieutenant general and chief of army staff, and his
predecessor Azubuike Ihejirika, a retired general, were allocated
2035.41sqm and 3909.35sqm of land respectively, the newspaper reported.

Those
who got allocations along with their wives included two former chiefs
of defence staff, Oluseyi Petinrin, a retired air chief marshal, and
Ibrahim Ola Sa’ad, a retired admiral.

Former chief of air staff,
Mohammed Dikko Umar, a retired air marshal, also got his share, while
Ihejirika’s wife, Gift, got Plot 4882 which is 2385.59sqm.

One
other beneficiary named “Oke Ihejirika” was given 1,583.59sqm, in
addition to three more ‘Ihejirikas’ who were listed as Goodok Oil and
Gas’s directors: Ihejirika Okechukwu, Ihejirika Chika and Ihejirika
Goodluck. The company got 7476.95sqm of land.

Daily Trust came
under attack from soldiers after its report, with soldiers seizing
copies of the newspaper and detaining its distribution vans.

Military
authorities defended the action, maintaining then that the operation
was based on a tip-off that terrorists wanted to use newspaper vehicles
to transport explosive materials.