Jonathan stopped Shekau from disrupting polls – Dasuki

.           Boko Haram, soldiers in gun battle in Yobe

DANLADI YUSUF
The immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), has said that the Boko Haram sect might have disrupted the 2015 election were it not for efforts of the Goodluck Jonathan administration in equipping the armed forces.

Dasuki said the immediate past government procured adequate arms that assisted in recapturing more than 22 local governments seized by insurgents.

He said some of the equipment is due to be delivered to the country soon, attributing the delayed delivery to frustrations from western powers.

“We are glad that we provided assorted armoured personnel carriers to transport troops to the battlefield. They were armed for self-defence and to provide protection from attacks from shrapnel and small arms fire,” he told PRNigeria.

“We deployed Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that we bought and which could withstand improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and ambushes. The vehicles had protected our troops from the land mine threats.

“The armoured tanks have comprehensive NBC protection system. All these were acquired in the last one year after years of frustration by Western powers who had denied us the equipment and sabotaged our efforts to acquire same from other sources, which are reasons for some delay in delivery.

“It was unfortunate that some elements are frustrating the efforts as we even had to query some suppliers for delay in the delivery of arms and ammunition.

“We utilised some of these equipment to recover more than 22 local governments under Boko Haram terrorists and ensured that Shekau did not disrupt the 2015 election as he had threatened. Not only did we ensure that the elections were peaceful, Shekau has never spoken to threaten anyone again since then.”

Responding to critics of the past administration on security issues, he said: “It is unfortunate that some elements hide under the cover of anonymity in the media to rubbish some of the sacrifices we made. They should the take the courage to come out publicly by identifying themselves with their baseless allegations.

“In our attempt to rubbish individuals for whatever reasons, political or otherwise, we should be careful not to rubbish sensitive institutions and their personnel that might still be in active service.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) is currently investigating Dasuki over alleged mismanagement of funds that had accrued to his office when he was in power.

After raiding his Abuja residence, the DSS said it found incriminating evidence against the retired colonel. But Dasuki denied the allegations, describing the occupation of his house as a witch-hunt.

Meanwhile, Nigerian troops and members of the Boko Haram sect yesterday engaged in a a gun battle in Gadaka, a town in Yobe State.

According to a source, the insurgents launched an onslaught on the town overnight, in a bid to seize it, while soldiers responded this morning to put up a resistance.

“As I speak to you now, there are three fighter jets bombarding the militants. They came to the town in large numbers last night and the military responded this morning. They wanted to take over the town, because they were even telling people to leave and threatening to kill those who would not obey.

“More Boko Haram members wanted to gain access to Gadaka this morning but they were unable to enter the town because it rained heavily last night and the whole road has been taken over by flood.”

Efforts to confirm the development from the Yobe State Police Command did not yield any result, as Marcus Danladi, the state police commissioner neither answered his call nor responded to the text message sent.