Nigerian Army Directorate of Information has condemned, a report in the UK Guardianwhich claimed that the state of indiscipline in the Nigerian Army was responsible for the delay in the commencement of military action against Islamists in Mali.
The newspaper quoting an ECOWAS source in Mali, alleged that the planned military intervention in Mali was being delayed largely because the Nigerian Army being relied upon in the fight, lacked the capacity to fight on the frontline.
“The Nigerian Army is in a shocking state,” said the source, who had seen recent assessments of Ecowas’ military capability.
“In reality there is no way they are capable of forward operations in Mali – their role is more likely to be limited to manning checkpoints and loading trucks.”
Quoting an ECOWAS source, the newspaper said, “The Nigerian forces lack training and kit, so they simply don’t have the capability to carry out even basic military manoeuvres,” the source added.
“They have poor discipline and support. They are more likely to play a behind-the-scenes role in logistics and providing security.”
But the Director of the Army Public Relations, Brig. General Bola Koleosho, said the sweeping claims by the UK Guardian on the Nigerian Army were clearly misguided, false and misleading.
He said the foreign media organisation couldn’t have been referring, in the publication, to the Nigerian Army that is internationally acclaimed to be the fourth largest contributor of troops to the United Nations Missions in the world.
He added that the Nigerian Army was reputed for discipline in all the mission areas where the nation had featured in peacekeeping activities contrary to the claim that the Army lacked discipline.
He said, “The Nigerian Army cannot be described in such negative terms; it is highly mischievous and totally rejected; these people wrote what they wrote without talking to anybody.
“One would have expected that the Guardian of London would have presented facts as facts and comments as comment. It is most unfortunate for such a report to come from London without any move to reach us, to get a reaction from those in charge of information in the Army.”