Nigeria: Buhari, Boko Haram and the Hiring of Mercenaries

2 June 2015

Most newspapers across Nigeria on Tuesday May 19th, 2015, came out with almost the same bold headline: "Buhari slams military for hiring mercenaries", with a small rider which says "it is a shame it can't secure 14 out of 774 LGAs in the country". The retired Army Major General was speaking when the elite members of the Arewa Consultative Forum paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.

Ordinarily, President Muhammadu Buhari, ought not to be challenged on this subject matter for some reasons. One, he is a retired major general of the Nigerian Army. Two, he has seen hostility during his days as a combatant. Three, he once led an onslaught, during his service days, against another religious insurgents [not of class of Boko Haram though] in the Northeast of the country, when he even pursued them [insurgents] into Republic of Chad territory during the days of Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic. Four and most importantly [for the purpose of this discussion], Buhari was the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces for twenty months after overthrowing the democratically elected government of the Second Republic.

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