Air Force chief, Badeh under attack over Boko Haram response

When Nigeria’s new chief of defence staff was appointed earlier this year, he promised a swift end to the deadly violence being waged by Boko Haram Islamists.

“If we do our work cohesively, I can tell you we will finish that thing (the counter-insurgency) in no time,” Air Marshal Alex Badeh said at his investiture on January 20.

Eight months on, Boko Haram look stronger than ever, having seized towns and villages in Nigeria’s northeast at a rate which has drawn comparisons to Islamic State militants’ rapid gains in Iraq.

The military in contrast seems far from cohesive: some soldiers have reportedly refused to deploy, complaining they are ill-equipped to fight the better-armed rebels.

Hundreds of others are said to have shouldered arms and fled their posts; salaries have reportedly gone unpaid; and soldiers left without proper food. The military denies the claims.

On Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned that the worsening security situation must be reversed.

“The reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake,” she told a bilateral security meeting in Abuja. “But more importantly, Nigeria’s and its children’s future is in jeopardy.

“Failure is not an option.”

– ‘It is shameful’ –

Africa’s most populous nation and leading economy also has one of its largest militaries.

There are 80,000 personnel on active service and 82,000 paramilitaries, according to the International Institute of Security Studies’ “The Military Balance 2014”.