Army General,Senior Officers Arrested Over Boko Haram's Takeover of Baga

A Brigadier General, Enitan Ransome-Kuti, his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Suru and some other senior officers have been arrested by the authorities of the Nigerian military over their failure to repel the attack on the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force [MNJTF] in Baga.

According to Premium Times, Mr. Ransome-Kuti, the Commander of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, his Chief of Staff and the other senior officers were detained shortly after they arrived Maiduguri from Monguno where they and their troops took refuge after they were dislodged from Baga.

 The Defence spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, in a statement said,

“Nigerian officers in key command positions of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) are in the process of accounting for their actions leading to the loss of weapons, men and location in their area of responsibility in the mission area.”

A Premium Times source said military authorities are disappointed that the attack on Baga was not repelled by troops of both battalions and the MNJTF headquarters despite all weapons made available to them.

The sources said the military authorities are especially angry with Mr. Ransome-Kuti for his inability to lead his troop to counter the Boko Haram onslaught despite the high calibre weapons and ammunition made available to his formation.The Brigadier General is also send to have gone underground for four days after the MNJTF was dislodged.

“Nobody was able to reach him and nobody could tell where he was,” one of our sources said. “The suspicion is that he was roaming around Maiduguri in mufti while his troop were in disarray. He and his officers have to account for everything.”