MILITARY commanders are considering whether to reach out to President Muhammadu Buhari on the urgent need to recall the South African mercenaries recruited by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan to help finish off Boko Haram after it recently attacked an army base.
Over the weekend, the remnants of Bioko Haram launched a surprise attack on the 272 Special Task Force Task Battalion's outpost in Mallam Fatori in Borno State. Although the soldiers there repelled the attack, they lost seven men, including the commander of the battalion Lt Col Muhammad Abubakar Ali.
Faced with the reality that Boko Haram is still in existence, defence chiefs have decided to impress it on the president that the sophisticated weapons the South African mercenaries possess could help in finishing off the terrorist sect. They fear Boko Haram might have experienced a boost recently, especially after they received a huge payout from the presidency for the release of 21 Chibok girls.
Over the last few weeks, there has been an upsurge of suicide bombings linked to Boko Haram as a few weeks ago, 83 soldiers were also declared missing in action after an attack on their military base. However, the Nigerian Army denied reports that the soldiers were missing in action, insisting that some had returned to the base.
One military source said: “During the Jonathan administration, defence headquarters agreed that for the Nigerian Army to successfully prosecute our war against Boko Haram we needed the assistance of some mercenaries in South Africa and we sought their assistance. From our calculations, coupled with the sophisticated weapons the mercenaries came with, it was envisaged that the Nigerian Army would have been able to finish Boko Haram in a matter of months.
“However, this administration came and said that Nigeria did not need South African mercenaries to battle a mere group of insurgents like Boko Haram and later terminated the contract. The truth is that we need them now."
Some senior officers of the Defence Intelligence Agency defence headquarters are currently in South Africa talking to leaders of the Specialised Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection about a possible new deal. However, a member of the Senate Defence Committee said they might encounter difficulties securing the assistance of the mercenaries given the fact that the monies owed them by the Jonathan administration has still not been paid by the current administration.
During the Jonathan administration, Mr Barlow, a former member of the South African Defence Force that was said to have fought for liberation movements in South Africa and the Southern African region, came to Nigeria with over 100 men made up of black troops who served in elite units of the South African military as well as communist guerrillas who had fought against the South African Defence Force in the days of apartheid. They had initially been recruited by the Jonathan government to help locate and free the kidnapped Chibok girls but became involved in map-reading and attacking Boko Haram.
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