While the clamour for modern technology in the fight against insecurity continues to occupy a central position in national discourse, it of course comes with its positive effects as well as challenges.
While many feel technologies will give the military an edge over the adversary it also poses challenges to military operations. A military court sitting in Abuja on 30 November, 2020 convicted a former Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi. He was found guilty of violating some sections of the policy on the use of social media for personnel of the armed forces of Nigeria.
Section 15 (g) of the policy which was released on June 11, 2018, on the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin specifically forbids personnel from “posting any video, audio, materials pictures during exercises/operations.”
The court-martial, however, found Major General Adeniyi guilty of producing and publicising a video on the counter-insurgency operation in the North-east in a manner that embarrassed and ridiculed the armed forces of Nigeria.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5228780540891921&output=html&h=90&slotname=8273095293&adk=2758388351&adf=2402057214&pi=t.ma~as.8273095293&w=728&lmt=1648426224&rafmt=12&psa=1&format=728×90&url=https%3A%2F%2Fleadership.ng%2Fterrorism-nigerian-military-and-the-21st-century-challenges%2F&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIixbXSxudWxsLG51bGwsIjY0IixbWyIgTm90IEE7QnJhbmQiLCI5OS4wLjAuMCJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCI5OS4wLjExNTAuNTIiXSxbIk1pY3Jvc29mdCBFZGdlIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIl1dLGZhbHNlXQ..&dt=1648426222308&bpp=4&bdt=3166&idt=1881&shv=r20220323&mjsv=m202203210101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D92e4ede740f2dcee%3AT%3D1636504828%3AS%3DALNI_MYwbtCkJRw28NGedv5AzyTUc0zc7A&prev_fmts=0x0%2C970x90%2C728x90&nras=1&correlator=3353473580977&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1103229342.1602630049&ga_sid=1648426223&ga_hid=1420521113&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=7&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=4&adx=116&ady=1920&biw=1349&bih=657&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759876%2C44759927%2C44759842%2C31065545%2C31061829%2C31063246%2C31065721&oid=2&pvsid=729328298879907&pem=110&tmod=1940343548&wsm=1&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latestnigeriannews.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1366%2C657&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=256&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=G12uiyFFUL&p=https%3A//leadership.ng&dtd=1917ADVERTISEMENT
The Nigerian Army had in July ordered Adeniyi to face court-martial, four months after he was seen in a rare video confessing that Nigerian troops were being outgunned by Boko Haram terrorists.
The commander was seen in two of four video clips giving a recorded situation report to the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai.
He blamed the deadly attack his troops suffered on “very wrong intelligence assessment” earlier conducted before they deployed.
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“Since yesterday we have been met with very strong resistance – from more than pockets of Boko Haram. This morning, from every flank not less than 15-gun trucks were facing us.”
Adeniyi, who appeared in full combat kit, was seen in one of the videos tapping a trooper who was weeping, telling him it was not a soldier like for him to cry because his colleagues were killed.
“I know you were crying because they killed your regular, look at me, that is not the time to cry,” he said, as he kept jerking the shirt of the trooper who was apparently weeping.
In another video, the theatre commander was seen and heard telling the soldiers that “it appears the people we are fighting have more firepower than us.”
He later directed the troops to gather all the bodies of the soldiers that paid the supreme price into available vehicles in order to quickly move them out of the danger zone.
His shocking revelation that the troops in the field are not adequately equipped and armed to fight, came amidst claims by the military authority that Boko Haram has been defeated.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5228780540891921&output=html&h=90&slotname=8273095293&adk=2758388351&adf=2606107862&pi=t.ma~as.8273095293&w=728&fwrn=4&lmt=1648426263&rafmt=12&psa=1&format=728×90&url=https%3A%2F%2Fleadership.ng%2Fterrorism-nigerian-military-and-the-21st-century-challenges%2F&efwr=0&wgl=1&adsid=ChAI8JaAkgYQurDy0Z7pralMEkgAuHanhF1j8cAHToKBz6Thd88OVDFJUoG6bdoG45HbgnujIrYnpbQq37Jd1iTQEDSDbAPoMWnAV7L-SeAH7mYvxDW-AnQyE5Y&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIixbXSxudWxsLG51bGwsIjY0IixbWyIgTm90IEE7QnJhbmQiLCI5OS4wLjAuMCJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCI5OS4wLjExNTAuNTIiXSxbIk1pY3Jvc29mdCBFZGdlIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIl1dLGZhbHNlXQ..&dt=1648426222313&bpp=4&bdt=3171&idt=3380&shv=r20220323&mjsv=m202203210101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D92e4ede740f2dcee%3AT%3D1636504828%3AS%3DALNI_MYwbtCkJRw28NGedv5AzyTUc0zc7A&prev_fmts=0x0%2C970x90%2C728x90%2C728x90%2C345x280%2C345x280%2C345x280&nras=1&correlator=3353473580977&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1103229342.1602630049&ga_sid=1648426223&ga_hid=1420521113&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=7&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=4&adx=116&ady=2875&biw=1349&bih=657&scr_x=0&scr_y=251&eid=44759876%2C44759927%2C44759842%2C31065545%2C31061829%2C31063246%2C31065721&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H_2WOMXZo6XOpzIrgtJen7sJL0igxJNh-7S7NLGxNIamhV7U9iSTLcLl_UmQ9WLgji8L7enx2wAJWnKOVl9%2CAGkb-H872h40opZNQQCgqiZfn7wDlhwCzbhOGtTH1ZIpqAc7KPtoxxkdu-pPFJAM6Uat0aFCTU9hw8623TK7bzg9&pvsid=729328298879907&pem=110&tmod=539708732&wsm=1&uas=3&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latestnigeriannews.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1366%2C657&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=256&bc=31&jar=2022-03-26-23&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=5&fsb=1&xpc=1r8BQYeF2y&p=https%3A//leadership.ng&dtd=41275ADVERTISEMENT
Adeniyi in the video revealed how he lost several types of equipment and was almost rendered immobile due to a massive attack on troops’ vehicles.
Facing the camera and addressing the Chief of Army staff, the Theater commander said, “Good morning sir, I’m standing here with Sector 2 Commander; the armed helicopter has just come to hover our air, the instruction I gave them was that anything they see moving they should engage because most of my gun trucks are not moving. Like I said earlier, the three battalions are fighting as deployed — nobody is running.
“But what we have here, I will give you some estimates, sir. Boko Haram has fired more than a hundred mortar bombs at us; they have fired 80 to a hundred RPGs at us; in addition to eight to 10 gun trucks firing at us from all sides. We have not run, and the soldiers are not misbehaving or disobeying orders.
“We have casualties. I will come and see you in person on what we need to do. But we are not running.”
“As you can see that’s one of us that bullets tore, we lost about 20 MRAP tires here. We have changed close to 250 Hilux tires due to the terrain.
“This is what we are facing in the Timbuktu triangle, sir. We are not running, we are fighting as a system to curtail the situation and achieve your mission, sir.”
He was therefore demoted by at least three years. His orderly, Tokunbo Obanla, a private, was also found guilty and sentenced to 28 days in jail with hard labour.
He was also removed as commander of Operation Lafiya Dole shortly afterward, with Buratai earlier commending him on April 5 for successes recorded in the anti-insurgency war under his leadership.
“Adeniyi came at a point when virtually most of the FOBs were falling and his coming was a turning point in Lafiya Dole’s operation, ‘’ Buratai said during a dinner organised in honour of Adeniyi at the Military’s Command Guest House, in Maiduguri.
“This one; no matter the lapses, no matter the inadequacies and no matter what happened, nobody can take that away from him as part of his successes.
“He came at a time when things were already crumbling and his leadership style turned things around to bring us to where we are today.https://www.google.com/afs/ads?psid=5134551505&channel=AutoRsVariant&fexp=44759735%2C21404%2C17300842%2C17300953%2C17300954&client=pub-5228780540891921&r=m&sct=ID%3Dfb2c655f7b06b394%3AT%3D1647739988%3AS%3DALNI_MZOfCnz5LvEsE7AeiFKAOHx1I6Hqg&sc_status=6&hl=en&type=3&rs_tt=c&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&format=r5&nocache=3231648426229472&num=0&output=afd_ads&domain_name=leadership.ng&v=3&bsl=10&pac=0&u_his=7&u_tz=60&dt=1648426229474&u_w=1366&u_h=768&biw=1349&bih=657&psw=1349&psh=657&frm=0&uio=-&cont=autors-container-0&jsid=csa&jsv=17387&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fleadership.ng%2Fterrorism-nigerian-military-and-the-21st-century-challenges%2F&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latestnigeriannews.com%2F#master-1
“He never led from the rear; he was always in the front. That is the type of leadership that is required and that is an excellent attribute of a field leader. I have always emphasised that you must lead by example.
“So Adeniyi, be rest assured that you have made your mark. You are leaving the Theatre, but you will be required to share the experience you have gathered here. You will be consulted accordingly,” he said.
Relatedly, in 2018 at least 149 personnel were penalised for violating a section of the social media guidelines within the first three months after they came into force.
The affected service members, majority of whom are non-commissioned officers, were accused of uploading pictures of themselves in military fatigues on social media, an act considered offensive under the guidelines issued in June 2018.
A breakdown of the sanctions shows 33 naval officers were found wearing their uniforms in fresh social media uploads, 40 soldiers were caught in the same act while 76 members of the Nigerian Air Force were affected.
The errant naval personnel comprised 15 commissioned officers and 18 ratings.
10 of the 40 Nigerian Army personnel are commissioned officers, with captain as the most-senior rank, while the remaining 30 are soldiers.
The Air Force saw 17 of its officers and 59 non-commissioned officers identified as violating the social media guidelines.
The Director Defence Information Major General Jimmy Akpor lamented that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and smartphones have made military operations difficult.
Major General Akpor who stated this when he visited the corporate headquarters of LEADERSHIP Newspaper in Abuja yesterday, said while the Armed Forces of Nigeria will be defending the nation’s territorial space, LEADERSHIP and other media houses will be doing the non-kinetic aspect of the war.
He called on the Nigerian media to support the military as it strives to secure, defend the nation, protect vital national interests and fulfill national military responsibilities.
He stressed that the media should strive to protect the hearts and minds of the people against fake news and misinformation as the military protects the nation’s territorial space.
He said, “I still deem it necessary to visit you in your corporate headquarters to pay my courtesies and to solicit your usual support as we carry on with our constitutional roles as enshrined in section 217 of the constitution.
“We’ll be defending and protecting outer space, but there are areas where kinetic energy cannot reach, talking about the minds.
“Whatever is sowed in the mind cannot be destroyed by kinetics. So, you are the ones that govern that space, the media and LEADERSHIP occupy an enviable place in that sphere.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5228780540891921&output=html&h=90&slotname=8273095293&adk=2758388351&adf=2416802707&pi=t.ma~as.8273095293&w=728&lmt=1648426293&rafmt=12&psa=1&format=728×90&url=https%3A%2F%2Fleadership.ng%2Fterrorism-nigerian-military-and-the-21st-century-challenges%2F&wgl=1&adsid=ChAI8JaAkgYQurDy0Z7pralMEkgAuHanhF1j8cAHToKBz6Thd88OVDFJUoG6bdoG45HbgnujIrYnpbQq37Jd1iTQEDSDbAPoMWnAV7L-SeAH7mYvxDW-AnQyE5Y&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIixbXSxudWxsLG51bGwsIjY0IixbWyIgTm90IEE7QnJhbmQiLCI5OS4wLjAuMCJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCI5OS4wLjExNTAuNTIiXSxbIk1pY3Jvc29mdCBFZGdlIiwiOTkuMC4xMTUwLjUyIl1dLGZhbHNlXQ..&dt=1648426222317&bpp=11&bdt=3174&idt=4389&shv=r20220323&mjsv=m202203210101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D92e4ede740f2dcee%3AT%3D1636504828%3AS%3DALNI_MYwbtCkJRw28NGedv5AzyTUc0zc7A&prev_fmts=0x0%2C970x90%2C728x90%2C728x90%2C345x280%2C345x280%2C345x280%2C728x90%2C345x280&nras=1&correlator=3353473580977&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1103229342.1602630049&ga_sid=1648426223&ga_hid=1420521113&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=7&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=4&adx=116&ady=5175&biw=1349&bih=657&scr_x=0&scr_y=2576&eid=44759876%2C44759927%2C44759842%2C31065545%2C31061829%2C31063246%2C31065721&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H_2WOMXZo6XOpzIrgtJen7sJL0igxJNh-7S7NLGxNIamhV7U9iSTLcLl_UmQ9WLgji8L7enx2wAJWnKOVl9%2CAGkb-H872h40opZNQQCgqiZfn7wDlhwCzbhOGtTH1ZIpqAc7KPtoxxkdu-pPFJAM6Uat0aFCTU9hw8623TK7bzg9&pvsid=729328298879907&pem=110&tmod=539708732&wsm=1&uas=1&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latestnigeriannews.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1366%2C657&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=256&bc=31&jar=2022-03-26-23&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=7&fsb=1&xpc=YM8Py7GVBc&p=https%3A//leadership.ng&dtd=71101ADVERTISEMENT
“Therefore, I deemed it necessary to come and ask for usual cooperation with the media, especially with the management of LEADERSHIP Newspaper. That we own only one country which is Nigeria and the responsibility to guide the soul of the country lies in your purview.
“Together we can collaborate to guide the physical and the soul of the country because this is the only country we all have”.
In his response, the vice-chairman of LEADERSHIP Media Group Mr Mike Okpere assured him that LEADERSHIP will continue to support the military in line with its motto: ‘’For God and Country”
Credit: Leadership