Nigeria Army General Detained ,Faces Court Martial Over Fall Of Bama, As Army Restricts Vehicles Around 7 Division

A Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army is being detained over the takeover of Bama, Borno State, by the Boko Haram insurgents without resistance from his troops.

Sources weekend revealed that the commander of the 21 Brigade was being interrogated, prior to his being arraigned before a court martial.

The authoritative source revealed that the 21 Brigade, being occupied by the Boko Haram terrorists, had two units of a battalion each, supported by 122 medium artillery guns with shilka and tanks.

He said further  that when the Boko Haram insurgents were coming in full force to attack Bama, the Brigade Commander, with the Chief of Staff and troops, ran into the bush without any resistance.

The source disclosed that the insurgents freely entered the armoury of the Brigade Headquarters and carted away military vehicles, tanks and weapons.

It was gathered that the commander and his Chief of Staff were eventually rescued by a battalion deployed in Konduga, about 15 kilometres from Bama.

The source told Nigerian Tribune that the equipment carted away from the armoury at the 21 Brigade were used to attack the infantry battalion at Konduga, though the insurgents were repelled by less than 400 infantry soldiers at Konduga.

“It is our equipment they carted away and used to fight against us,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the military has extended the time of restriction of vehicular movement around 7 Division.

The ban on vehicular movement in the area of reponsibility was extended to 7.00 a.m. tomorrow.

In a statement by Deputy Director, Public Relations of 7 Division, Colonel Sanni Usman, the division said all necessary security measures were being implemented, while members of the public are hereby requested to comply fully.

Workers on essential services, such as hospitals and fire services, with clear identification are, however, exempted.