Fleeing operatives of Nigeria’s Joint Task Force (JTF) against the Boko Haram insurgency will be made to face the full weight of the law when apprehended or willingly turn themselves in, either now or in the future.
Sources close to the country’s military authorities say there are plans to invoke relevant clauses in the law that deals with operatives who abandon their duty posts, with no plans to return for reasons best known to them.
At least 17 operatives of the Joint Task Force transferred to the Dikwa Local Government in Borno State to help combat the rising menace of the Boko Haram insurgency which threatened the very survival of the state decided to down tools and take a walk, and have not returned since November 2022.
The JTF made up of operatives from the Nigeria Army, the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had been given the assignment to dislodge the terrorists who had captured Dikwa Local Government, and return it to it’s once peaceful landscape.
But, reports would claim that some of the operatives decided to abandon the assignment when it looked like they were being overpowered by their adversaries with superior firepower.
The rather suffocating security climate in the country in the last five years has led to a situation where draftees into top military and paramilitary outfits have become disillusioned, seeking easy ways out of what they consider a major crisis that threatens their lives and careers.
In putting out a statement, the military authorities named 17 of it’s personnel who have either rejected their postings, abruptly absconded, or gone AWOL.
A signal has since gone out, calling out the runaway operatives to return or face the consequences which, according to sources, range from court martial, demotion, withholding of salaries and entitlements, prison sentence or outright disengagement.
However, the level of punishment according to informed sources differs from individual to individual, and strictly adheres to the rule of how high up a particular operative is in each military outfit.
The following operatives were mentioned in a circular that the security outfit sent out to the media recently.
Leading the said fugitives are D.M Hussain, B.M Eyenla, E.K Elele, G. O Ikhide, B.O Offiong, A.B Adamu, P.E Ndiomu, K.H Danladi, M.A Odamodo, G.D Okonkwo and P.F Nsikak.
Others are, D.Y Egwu, W.B Ibidapo, F.A Akwete, B.G Otu, L.O Igwe, and D.S Akubuiro.
The country’s security apparatus has been hit recently by mass desertions as operatives grumble over poor motivation, deplorable conditions of service, selective postings to hazardous terrains regarded as the hotspots of terrorism and banditry in the country, without being properly equipped for duty, and other official and personal reasons.
