by Usman Alabi
It is always very difficult to let go our love ones, so most times we tend to look for suitable explanation to justify their departure, not only love ones but also events that we never envisaged could happen in the way it did. A good example is the 9/11 attack in US, where some conspiracy theorists still feel that the terrorists were not exactly or solely responsible for the attack, they believe that there is a conspiratorial undertone from forces within.
Same goes for our beloved fallen hero, Late Lt. Col Abu Ali who has endeared us to the military and unites us against a common enemy, thus compelling us to make sure that his sacrifice was not in vain. Many thought the circumstances surrounding is death is suspicious, hence pointing to a conspiratorial undertone, But how possible is that, given the fact that it was an ambush, but the theorists are not given up, they gave reasons for their line of argument.
The punch news paper gathered that troops in the operational area who were saddened by the death of the officer and their colleagues, had alleged possible internal sabotage
“There are so many issues on the ground. The soldiers are complaining. There is a likelihood of internal sabotage in the war. And to worsen the situation, some of the state governors are not acting in a way to encourage the boys
“Even some officials of the state government are suspected to be in collaboration with these people. So most of the information the Boko Haram terrorists are getting is from civilians working with some military personnel around that place,’’ the source added according to punch.
There are claims that no state government officials and politicians in the area had been attacked by the Boko Haram terrorists. Thirty two persons according to Brig. Gen Rabe Abubakar in a statement on October 5 2016 are in custody for alleged sabotage of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the North-East. According to punch, there were strong indications that the Nigerian Army High Command was making arrangement to probe the death of the Commander of the 272 Special Forces Tanks Battalion, Lt. Col. Mohammed Abu Ali and six of his men in a Boko Haram attack at Mallam Fatori on November 4, 2016.
It is not impossible that there could have been something fishy about the death of the late Commander, and to clear all doubts, it is probably important that the Army stage an inquiry into the death of the men. This is not the first time we are hearing of conspiratorial links to boko haram which has caused setback for the fight against insurgency and led to the death of many Nigerian soldiers. Former President Jonathan cried out during his tenure that Boko Haram has infiltrated his government, and ever since he made that statement, no one has actually been caught, which means if he is actually saying the truth, a lot of them are still much around.
It is important that the military clear this doubt, and if discovered to be true, parties involved should be brought to book. For it is unbearable that we lost a gallant warrior but it is much more unbearable if discovered that his death is avoidable and it is due to sabotage.