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Yoruba elders have criticized the court martial of Major General Olusegun Adeniti over his comments on Boko Haram war in the North East.
In a clip released in March, Adeniyi disclosed that Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram insurgents were ill equipped to combat the terrorists.
The video irked the public and intensified pressure on government to contain the terrorism ensued.
After the outcry, military hierarchy redeployed Adeniyi from being the commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and moved him to the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja.
In what was described as cherrypicking of its soldiers, the Yoruba elders under the aegis of the Yoruba Summit Group at a meeting lamented that real culprits of the crime against the Nigerian people and nation were left unpunished.
The forum explicitly demanded that Adeniyi must not be harmed for speaking out for a due course.
The group said, “The Yorùbá nation notes with sadness that on the very day our daughter Tolulope went home, a senior military officer, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, was court-martialled for daring to voice out the lack of tools and equipment needed to prosecute a Boko Haram war that has become far too prolonged and far too controversial in light of the numerous calls to the Federal Government to change the service chiefs who have failed to provide the highest quality of security, leadership and delivery of forthrightness in their duties.
“We the Yorùbá condemn in strong terms the cherry-picking of our fighters, soldiers, officers as either cannon fodders easy-targets, operational fall-guys and being used for experimental disciplinary measures whilst the real culprits go free!
“Critical to this development are also pieces of news items of friendly fire from soldiers of a particular part of the country using their guns on our fighters who dare carry the battle deep into the Boko Haram held territories.”
The leaders also demanded for a comprehensive inquiry into the death of Tolulope Arotile.
They claimed that there was more to her death that need to be revealed.
“We are also aware of the initial casual manner Tolulope Arotile’s killing was treated by the authorities of the Nigerian Air Force which is capable of raising suspicion in the minds people. It is better to quickly douse tension and apprehension by coming out in the open,” they said in a communique issued at the end of the meeting.
“The authorities did not imagine that so much noise would be made, and so many questions would be asked. Her death was treated with levity, just as many other cases where the lives of Nigerians do not seem to matter anymore.
“The Yorùbá nation therefore demands a full-scale independent investigation by an inclusive panel of experts,” they added.
In attendance at the meeting were by Pa Rueben Fasoranti, Afenifere leader; Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Yoruba World Congress, Banji Akintoye, Chairman of Voice of Reason; Olusegun Mimiko, former governor of Ondo State.
Others are Oye Ibidapo-Obe, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos; Yinka Odumakin, spokesman of Afenifefre; and Gani Adams, leader of the O’dua Peoples Congress.
Source: Sahara Reporters
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.