Nigerian Labor Congress Laments State's Vulnerability to Boko Haram
NLC Tasks Military to Reclaim Its Honour
11 Nov 2014
Shola Oyeyipo
Worried by the consistent loss of territories to the Boko Haram terrorist group by the armed forces, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the troops to brace up to its onerous task of defending the national integrity.
Though the NLC, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, titled: ‘Reclaim Your Honour,’ noted the challenges confronted by the military in tackling the rather unconventional war being waged against the country by the insurgents, it emphasised that the responsibility of protecting the country rests with the army.
“We at the Nigeria Labour Congress feel hurt and pained by what we are witnessing. We are saddened and petrified by what seems to be the unraveling of a dark prophesy. While our forces are retreating from the Boko Haram in various battle fronts, the sect has opened a new offensive, that of winning hearts in conquered territories,” he said.
He added: “We are alarmed at the rate the nation is losing grounds in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents. We stand by our security forces in these trying times in their engagement with Boko Haram insurgents. We believe in their capacity and resolve to get done the job of containing the insurgents.
“We acknowledge that this is not a regular war. We appreciate other challenges of our security forces among which are logistics, numbers, indiscipline, motivation and others.
“We are however worried by the consistent loss of territories by troops that are supposed to be the pride of the nation to a band of insurgents, perhaps not more than a battalion or two, poorly trained and relatively ill-equipped but whose foremost strength is their resolve to fight!
“It is saddening that all but half the North-east, the size of many countries, is under the control of the insurgents. Our soldiers swore to an oath to maintain the territorial integrity as well as defend the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today that sanctity is being violated with ease, the land is being desecrated and the blood of the innocent freely flows.
“Today, painfully, our armed forces have become the butt of jokes in not a few diplomatic circles as our soldiers have acquired for themselves the unenviable reputation of turning tail and becoming refugees at the slightest threat of a skirmish.”
Ozo-Eson, said the NLC tasks the military to reclaim its honour by stamping out insurgents since, “It was reason the citizens paid tax, made sacrifices as well as surrendered their right to bear arms.”
November 11, 2014
By Victor Ahiuma-Young
Nigerian Vanguard
NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, said Nigeria was now in full blown war with insurgents and called on the Federal Government and armed forces to as a mark of honour, do everything possible to reclaim occupied territories, and also stamp out insurgency from the country.
NLC in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, said it was alarmed at the rate the nation was losing grounds in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents, lamenting that congress was worried about Nigeria’s vulnerability.
According to the statement “We stand by our security forces in these trying times in their engagement with Boko Haram insurgents. We believe in their capacity and resolve to get done the job of containing the insurgents.
We acknowledge that this is not a regular war. We appreciate other challenges of our security forces among which are logistics, numbers, indiscipline, motivation and others.
”We are however worried by the consistent loss of territory by troops that are supposed to be the pride of the nation to a band of insurgents, perhaps not more than a battalion or two, poorly trained and relatively ill-equipped.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/nlc-laments-nigerias-vulnerability-boko-haram/#sthash.aaZEMO5H.dpuf
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| Nigerian school where girls were abducted in April 2014. |
11 Nov 2014
Shola Oyeyipo
Worried by the consistent loss of territories to the Boko Haram terrorist group by the armed forces, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the troops to brace up to its onerous task of defending the national integrity.
Though the NLC, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, titled: ‘Reclaim Your Honour,’ noted the challenges confronted by the military in tackling the rather unconventional war being waged against the country by the insurgents, it emphasised that the responsibility of protecting the country rests with the army.
“We at the Nigeria Labour Congress feel hurt and pained by what we are witnessing. We are saddened and petrified by what seems to be the unraveling of a dark prophesy. While our forces are retreating from the Boko Haram in various battle fronts, the sect has opened a new offensive, that of winning hearts in conquered territories,” he said.
He added: “We are alarmed at the rate the nation is losing grounds in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents. We stand by our security forces in these trying times in their engagement with Boko Haram insurgents. We believe in their capacity and resolve to get done the job of containing the insurgents.
“We acknowledge that this is not a regular war. We appreciate other challenges of our security forces among which are logistics, numbers, indiscipline, motivation and others.
“We are however worried by the consistent loss of territories by troops that are supposed to be the pride of the nation to a band of insurgents, perhaps not more than a battalion or two, poorly trained and relatively ill-equipped but whose foremost strength is their resolve to fight!
“It is saddening that all but half the North-east, the size of many countries, is under the control of the insurgents. Our soldiers swore to an oath to maintain the territorial integrity as well as defend the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today that sanctity is being violated with ease, the land is being desecrated and the blood of the innocent freely flows.
“Today, painfully, our armed forces have become the butt of jokes in not a few diplomatic circles as our soldiers have acquired for themselves the unenviable reputation of turning tail and becoming refugees at the slightest threat of a skirmish.”
Ozo-Eson, said the NLC tasks the military to reclaim its honour by stamping out insurgents since, “It was reason the citizens paid tax, made sacrifices as well as surrendered their right to bear arms.”
November 11, 2014
By Victor Ahiuma-Young
Nigerian Vanguard
NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, said Nigeria was now in full blown war with insurgents and called on the Federal Government and armed forces to as a mark of honour, do everything possible to reclaim occupied territories, and also stamp out insurgency from the country.
NLC in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, said it was alarmed at the rate the nation was losing grounds in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents, lamenting that congress was worried about Nigeria’s vulnerability.
According to the statement “We stand by our security forces in these trying times in their engagement with Boko Haram insurgents. We believe in their capacity and resolve to get done the job of containing the insurgents.
We acknowledge that this is not a regular war. We appreciate other challenges of our security forces among which are logistics, numbers, indiscipline, motivation and others.
”We are however worried by the consistent loss of territory by troops that are supposed to be the pride of the nation to a band of insurgents, perhaps not more than a battalion or two, poorly trained and relatively ill-equipped.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/nlc-laments-nigerias-vulnerability-boko-haram/#sthash.aaZEMO5H.dpuf
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