The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has appealed to the international community to be more objective by showing understanding for the peculiarity of Nigeria’s current security situation, saying that the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations against the Boko Haram terrorists were a bit protracted because of the guerrilla tactics.
The Director of Defence Information (DDI),  Maj- Gen Chris Olukolade, stated this while receiving the prestigious Alfred Daniel King Foundation award as a distinguished Military Information Expert, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America (USA).
Olukolade, in a report by PRNigeria, noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces have always striven to operate in line with the global professional best practices.
He criticized the hard stance of some western countries over perceived negative human rights record of Nigerian military, saying it is ill informed and based on wrong mindset.
Meanwhile, The Defence Headquarters has deplored what it describes as insufficient appreciation of soldiers in the counter-terrorism operations in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. It says rather much of the glory has been going to hunters, and dismissed the hunters’ claims as flimsy and exaggerated.
The DHQ in a statement on its website said claims of the hunters’ exploits were simply intended to foster a mischievous campaign aimed at disparaging and depreciating the professional efforts of the Nigerian military at containing the terrorists especially in Adamawa. It is obvious that the intention is to ridicule and discourage the military. We are not moved.
The statement declared, “that the effort of the hunters and citizens who have been supporting our troops in the onslaught, the military still remains in the vanguard of the mission to rid the nation of terrorists and their activities. We will remain focused and utilise only well-meaning support and advice in the ongoing campaign to wipe out terrorists.”
It accused unnamed politicians of promoting the campaign for whatever reasons, but vowed that it would “not be distracted by their antics.”
“The result of present efforts will soon manifest for the whole world to see and Nigerians and their military will not be diminished, as intended by those engaging in the campaign of calumny against the Nigerian military,” it said and cautioned Nigerians not to allow themselves to be “hoodwinked into danger by some false reports on so called liberation of certain areas by ‘hunters’ as we can only vouch for areas where the military has reported cleared of terrorists.”, it added.
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram killed 48 fish vendors in Borno State, near the border with Chad, the head of the fish traders association said yesterday.
He said the insurgents set up a barricade at DogonFili, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from DoronBaga, and stopped a convoy of fish vendors around midday, slaughtering some of them and drowning others in the lake.
“The Boko Haram gunmen slit the throats of some of the men and tied the hands and legs of the others before throwing them into the lake to drown,” Gamandi told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
DoronBaga, 180 kilometres from Maiduguri, is the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger fighting the Islamist group.
The MNJTF was formed in 1998 to fight trans-border crime but its mandate was expanded to tame the Boko Haram insurgency in the volatile region.
Gamandi claimed the assailants killed all of their victims without using their guns.
“The attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the multi-national troops,” Gamandi said.
A military officer in Maiduguri confirmed the attack but said details were sketchy.
“We heard of the attack near DoronBaga but we don’t have any details because the area falls under the operational jurisdiction of the MNJTF,” the military officer said.
News of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of mobile phone towers in the area by Boko Haram in previous attacks.
Incessant Boko Haram attacks have disrupted fishing and farming along the shore of Lake Chad and fishermen from DoronBaga were forced to abandon fishing and turned to importing dried fish from neighbouring Chad.
Gamandi said the DogonFili route provided the safest passage for traders from DoronBaga to Chad as other routes are infested with Boko Haram gunmen who rob and kill travellers.