SEVERAL army officers involved in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists across northeastern Nigeria have written a passionate letter to President Goodluck Jonathan calling for help and copied United Nations secretary-general Banki Moon.

Written to express the officers' exasperation at the continuous frustrating of their efforts to rout the insurgents, the letter calls on President Jonathan to investigate the ongoing corruption in the military. A copy of the letter has been sent to Mr Moon, asking him to put pressure on President Jonathan to address the concerned raised.

Under the codename Operation Zaman Lafiya, Nigeria's military is fighting a brutal war against Boko Haram insurgents who have captured about 13 local government areas across northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram has been successful in this war because it is often better equipped than the Nigerian Army and it regularly out-mans government troops who are forced to flee when the terrorists attack.

In their open letter titled State of Operations In The North East As Observed By Some Concerned Officers, the soldiers have called on President Jonathan to investigate the looting of funds meant for military operations. They also urged President Barack Obama of the US and Mr Moon to use their influence to exert pressure on the Nigerian government.

According to the officers who authored the letter, they were initially reluctant to air their grievances in the open in order not to boost the morale of insurgents but said they had no choice.  In their letter, they accused President Jonathan of condoning the looting of funds meant for the war against the insurgents. 

They specifically alleged that the chief of training and operations, Major-General John Ewansiha was a major looter of security funds. In addition, the letter stated that it was well known that President Jonathan’s aide camp Col Ojogbane Adegbe, had illicitly acquired massive wealth that has enabled him to buy up expensive homes in Nigeria and abroad. 

In addition, the letter further alleged that top military officials had intimidated an officer who wrote a letter to the president to deny authorship of the document which exposed massive corruption in anti-terror operations. They complain that President Jonathan has chosen to ignore their complaints because none of his relations are among them.

"We are appealing to all well meaning Nigerians and leaders of the international community to please speak out with a loud voice to make President Jonathan to constitute an independent high-powered committee to investigate the content of that letter written to him by the commanding officer. Should this request be ignored, the resultant consequence could only be imagined," the letter read.

SEVERAL army officers involved in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists across northeastern Nigeria have written a passionate letter to President Goodluck Jonathan calling for help and copied United Nations secretary-general Banki Moon.

Written to express the officers' exasperation at the continuous frustrating of their efforts to rout the insurgents, the letter calls on President Jonathan to investigate the ongoing corruption in the military. A copy of the letter has been sent to Mr Moon, asking him to put pressure on President Jonathan to address the concerned raised.

Under the codename Operation Zaman Lafiya, Nigeria's military is fighting a brutal war against Boko Haram insurgents who have captured about 13 local government areas across northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram has been successful in this war because it is often better equipped than the Nigerian Army and it regularly out-mans government troops who are forced to flee when the terrorists attack.

In their open letter titled State of Operations In The North East As Observed By Some Concerned Officers, the soldiers have called on President Jonathan to investigate the looting of funds meant for military operations. They also urged President Barack Obama of the US and Mr Moon to use their influence to exert pressure on the Nigerian government.

According to the officers who authored the letter, they were initially reluctant to air their grievances in the open in order not to boost the morale of insurgents but said they had no choice.  In their letter, they accused President Jonathan of condoning the looting of funds meant for the war against the insurgents. 

They specifically alleged that the chief of training and operations, Major-General John Ewansiha was a major looter of security funds. In addition, the letter stated that it was well known that President Jonathan’s aide camp Col Ojogbane Adegbe, had illicitly acquired massive wealth that has enabled him to buy up expensive homes in Nigeria and abroad. 

In addition, the letter further alleged that top military officials had intimidated an officer who wrote a letter to the president to deny authorship of the document which exposed massive corruption in anti-terror operations. They complain that President Jonathan has chosen to ignore their complaints because none of his relations are among them.

"We are appealing to all well meaning Nigerians and leaders of the international community to please speak out with a loud voice to make President Jonathan to constitute an independent high-powered committee to investigate the content of that letter written to him by the commanding officer. Should this request be ignored, the resultant consequence could only be imagined," the letter read.

credit:  Nigerianwatch