Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), was given a directive to end Boko Haram insurgency within 40 days, and in return he gave his conditions to carry out the directives.
The development infuriated Gen Tukur Buratai, and that led to his sacking as theatre commander of the joint task force (JTF) on grounds of a poor job in the fight against Boko Haram.
The Daily Vendor can authoritatively report that one of the conditions given was that soldiers should be well equipped and resourced professionally.
But the demand did not go down well with Gen Tukur Buratai (Rtd) who quickly labeled him as a failure and removed him as theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole.
It will be recalled that In July 2017, Tukur Buratai, the outgoing COAS, gave Attahiru 40 days to deliver Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dead or alive — a task thought to be “impossible”.
He did not deliver Shekau — dead or alive — but the country experienced increased suicide bombings and attacks on military formations.
Buratai knew that it is not possible to carry out that task within the time frame without adequate weapon and other logistics.
So Attahiru was set up to fail as JTF theatre commander when word got to him that Attahiru was being considered to replace him, as early as 2017.
The politics of replacement may have gone on for three to four years, but Attahiru has now been named the new chief of army staff.
In June 2017, barely a month after Attahiru took over, Boko Haram insurgents attacked Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
The month after, a group of geologists and technologists from the University of Maiduguri were ambushed by Boko Haram insurgents at Magumeri area of Borno state.
About 12 soldiers who escorted the academics were reportedly killed. Some members of staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the team were also killed in the brutal ambush.
Months after the army chief had ordered the capture of Shekau, the sect, using four female suicide bombers, attacked Muna Gari, a suburb of Maiduguri, killing about 14 persons.
In December 2017, six months after he was appointed, Attahiru was removed and deployed, replaced by Rogers Nicholas, a major general who was in charge of logistics at the army headquarters.
Following all these trail of infractions it was easy to remove Attahiru and label him as failure and not fit for the position.
However as fate will have it the President appointed him as COAS because he did very well on assumption of duty until the directives.
