Former chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has said that the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, should be questioned about his latest attacks on troops.
Buratai had said on Sunday at the closing of Army Headquarters Transformational leadership workshop in Abuja that soldiers with waning fighting spirit in the ongoing anti-insurgency war should get out of the way before they are kicked out.
Buratai’s threat to ease out those he called “bad eggs” came less than a week after he decried their attitude on the battlefield, blaming recent setback in the anti-terror war on “insufficient commitment to a common national and military cause by those at the frontlines”.
“In my opening remarks, I observed how the attitude of quite a few bad eggs among us, whose commitment to our national/military cause has waned and led to setbacks in our operations. I am glad that this workshop has clearly shown to everyone that we have great reasons to be proud of our nation,” army spokesman, Sagir Musa, said on behalf of Buratai.
His remark at the conference sparked criticisms, with some saying it was damaging to the troop’s morale.
In a tweet on Monday, Odinkalu said that it was time to ask the army chief why he is ‘spending all energy’ attacking his troops instead of insurgents.
“It’s time to ask the Chief of @HQNigerianArmy why he’s spending all energy fighting his troops not the insurgents,” Odinkalu wrote.
