Ex-Defence Chief, Gen Agwai explains why B’Haram terrorists are killing soldiers

The reason Nigerian soldiers continue to suffer casualties in the battle to root out Boko Haram in the North East has been blamed on the unconventional nature of the battle.

A former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, stated this in response to the recent attack in Metele, Borno State by the insurgent group that allegedly left scores of Nigerian soldiers dead.

According to him, the troops are suffering casualties because they are not fighting a conventional warfare for which they were trained.

Agwai, who spoke to newsmen on the sideline of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES), held in Abuja, called on Nigerians not to regard killing of troops as a sign of weakness on the part of the military.

“Let me say with all sincerity that it is so sad that we have lost such number of people (soldiers).

“Let me also remind all of us that when a dog bites man, it’s not news but the day a man bites dog, you know that it’s news. How many of you have reported the number of Boko Haram that have been arrested, those that have been detained and those that have been killed by the security agents?

‘’It’s because that is the dog biting man, that’s what is expected of the troops. But you cannot go to abattoir and you say you don’t want blood to touch you. If you don’t want blood to touch you, then you must not go to abattoir,” he added.

His explanation came just as President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday warned against the politicising of the deaths of soldiers killed after Boko Haram overran the Metele Military Base in Borno State.

Buhari, who reiterated his government’s commitment to defeating the insurgency, asked Nigerians to see the terrorist in the North East of the country as common enemies, and resist the urge to seek political advantage from their evil campaign.

READ ALSO: METELE: ‘Unfortunate! Nigerian soldiers killed while service chiefs were attending APC event in Aso Rock’

“We must resist the temptation to play politics with the tragedy of the deaths of our soldiers. They are heroes on the frontlines, fighting to make Nigeria a safer place for us all.

“Rest assured that the circumstances that have led to these deaths will be comprehensively addressed,” he said through his Twitter account.

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