…Lai Mohammed says ammunition were death traps
By Sam Otti
The Federal Government yesterday accused the Jonathan administration of procuring and deploying substandard weaponry in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. The government said the weapons failed standard test and could not have been responsible for the successes recorded by the military recently.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this in a statement in Abeokuta Ogun State, described as unfortunate and unsubstantiated a report credited to former President Goodluck Jonathan attributing the recent successes in the war to the weapons allegedly bought by his government which were delivered after he had left office.
In an exclusive interview with France 24 in Geneva, Switzerland last week, Jonathan claimed his administration laid a solid foundation for terrorism to be defeated, adding that “the new government is working hard and I believe they are still using the equipment we procured.”
Reacting to the statement, Mohammed said the present administration must put the record straight, especially because the issues raised by the former President were of public interest and border on national security.
“The weapons, munition and equipment which the former President said he bought were refurbished and lacked the basic components and spare parts. Additionally, the ammunition bought for both high calibre and small weapons have mostly expired, incompatible with weapons and grossly inadequate.
‘’It is pertinent to state that the ammunition he was referring to were backloaded because they explode within the barrel when fired, thus leading to deaths and injuries among soldiers,’’ he said.
According to him, the troops also lacked the lift and operational vehicles and other equipment which they needed for an effective prosecution of the war, until the present administration ameliorated the situation.
‘’The situation was so pathetic that soldiers were often transported in Civilian JTF vehicles, civilian vehicles, trailers and water tankers when going to the theatres of operation. The revelations on the sorry state of things in the past, which have emanated from the investigative panel so far, point clearly to the kind of legacy bequeathed to this administration by the past government.
“That explains why troops remained largely static and were unable to effectively deploy to completely rout the Boko Haram terrorists in all their known enclaves. The high level of casualties sustained by our gallant soldiers was most unprecedented and cannot be compared to any known military operations in recent times, all because of the terrible state of affairs suffered by the military under the Jonathan administration,’’ the minister said.