The condition of Nigerian troops in Mali is quickly sliding from bad to worse as inadequate supply of provision is forcing the contingent to solicit food from locals, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.

According to a reliable defence source who asked not to be named, the Nigerian contingent solicits food and handouts under the guise of “courtesy calls” to community leaders in Mali.

After one of such courtesy calls on Monday, the troops received a handout of a cow and 50 bags of rice from the Prefect of Tuban in Banamba region.

“Our officers and men have resorted to begging locals for cows and rice for survival,” said the official.

“This is done by way of courtesy calls. They invite the prefects of the locals to our camp for visits. The prefect of Tuban (Banamba Region) visited today (Feb 11) with a cow and 50 bags of rice.”

Last week, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that the initial 162-soldier contingent is suffering severe food shortage and a dip in morale as troops were forced to skip meals.

Our defence insiders said there has been no improvement in the provision of food.

However, the Director for Defence Information, Mohammed Yerima, a Brigadier General in the Army, told our reporter over the telephone that any insinuation of food shortage is not true.

“We have provided the contingent with enough food and fund to last them for the initial three months. Is Nigeria not bigger than that?” he said.

Still in Bamako

Contrary to information from the Ministry of Defence that Nigerian troops are involved in combat and have advanced northward toward the city of Gao, military insiders said the Nigerian contingent is still stationed at the Force Headquarters in Bamako.

We learnt that shortage in armaments has prevented the deployment of soldiers to combat positions. And many soldiers are yet to be paid their monthly sustenance allowance.

Sending troops in piecemeal

As of Monday, there were 210 soldiers in Mali with 70 more billed to join them on Tuesday.

President Goodluck Jonathan promised to deploy 1,200 soldiers as part of Africa-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) but is having great difficulty meeting up with that number.

Mr. Yerima said the figure we cited is incorrect. But our sources dismissed the denials, saying Mr. Yerima’s job is to make the Nigerian military look good.

“We have over 500 troops in Mali and Niamey (Niger Republic),” he said.

Since we are not reporting on Niger, we had expected him to tell us how many soldiers Nigeria has on ground in Mali.

The Boko Haram insurgency, Niger Delta unrest, and the country’s commitment to the African Union Mission in Darfur, Sudan, have over-stretched the Nigerian Army, senior military sources said.http://premiumtimesng.com/news/120000-exclusive-hardship-hits-nigerian-troops-in-mali-as-officers-solicit-food-from-locals.html

GARRI (x7):
What a SHAME!!!

Our soldiers begging rice and meat in Mali!!!

Na wa oooo, we be real "giant" of Africa!!!

taharqa: You are an ANIMAL @Garriman (you and d OP) 4 bliving dis thrash just like dat. You just lost d very little respect i had 4 yr opinion previously; d @OP is isnt a surprise, and at no time did i regard him as a 'complete' human...*smh*

taharqa: You are an ANIMAL @Garriman (you and d OP) 4 bliving dis thrash just like dat. You just lost d very little respect i had 4 yr opinion previously; d @OP is isnt a surprise, and at no time did i regard him as a 'complete' human...*smh*

taharqa: How can a SANE person just bliv dat d Nigerian troops wud be 'begging' for food from people in an enemy combactant area? So the tens of thousands of Nigerian troops in operatn in various parts of Nigeria 'beg' food 4rm community leadas in areas where the operate? If Nigeria can feed tens of thousands of Active troops here in Nigeria and the ova hundred thousand odas when on duty, how can she not be able to feed about 500 soldiers in Active duty in anoda country just less than 2 wks of deployment. Are sm people so thoroughly fooolish? Shldn't there be a limit to d extent one is willy to play Politics and/or ethnic matters in d Military ([b]Igbo man cont?mbarrase' d country for God's sake?? Shldn't Elrufai and his Online alignd 'newspaper' know what must not be awoken? Idioots, Complete ijiots...*spitsindisgust*

Eko Ile:
Are you on drugs? what's the meaning of this gibberish?
The guy's job is a very challenging one. Defending an inept and corrupt failure isn't easy. Even the Great Beaf had to go on a self-imposed exile because he couldn't cope. So I wouldn't be surprised if Taharqa takes some drugs to help him cope with the physical, mental and emotional stress that comes with defending the inept one.

e no dey tay before your people turn every story to ibo story... low self esteem and insecure people...
That's a very sure escape route when fickle-brained folks are unable to rationally challenge a superior argument

souldust: eko ile you really guff for this one walahi.

Contrary to information from the Ministry of Defence that Nigerian troops are involved in combat and have advanced northward toward the city of Gao, military insiders said the Nigerian contingent is still stationed at the Force Headquarters in Bamako.

We learnt that shortage in armaments has prevented the deployment of soldiers to combat positions. And many soldiers are yet to be paid their monthly sustenance allowance.

Scores of people marched through the streets of Banamba town in northern Mali to welcome the Nigerian troops who liberated the town from militants.
The militants were in control of the town before the deployment of Nigerian soldiers there earlier this week. Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim Thursday, visited the town to assess the performance of the troops.
A military source in Mali said many people have fled the town before the soldiers advanced toward them. The rebels who got the information of the deployment of the troops were the first to abandon their position, the source said. “The troops did not meet any resistance and reclaimed the city without any casualty.”
Meanwhile few people living in the town have welcomed the soldiers and sought protection from them against the rebels.
Banamba is one of the seven cities of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. It has an estimated population of close to 10,000 people. It is the first town liberated by Nigerians.
http://weeklytrust.com.ng/index.php/new-news/11500-nigerian-troops-liberate-banamba-in-mali

Malian and Nigerian forces were being deployed to secure the area around the city, about 590 miles (950 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Bamako, following the overnight action by French special forces, according to the ministry.

French troops were playing a supporting role after taking the airport and a bridge over the River Niger to the south of the city, French military spokesman Thierry Burkhard said by phone.

“Malian and French forces liberate Gao,” the ministry said in its e-mailed statement today.

“Several terroristgroups battled with the French forces intervening in support of the Malian army.”

Rebel transport equipment and several logistic sites were destroyed, according to the ministry.

France intervened in Mali on Jan. 11 after Islamist fighters overran the town of Konna, sparking concern they might advance to Bamako. The French defense ministry said 3,700 French soldiers are involved in the operation, including 2,500 on Mali soil.

The mayor of Gao, Sadou Diallo, returned to the city after having taken refugee in Bamako, the French Defense Ministry said.

Troops from Nigeria and Chad are arriving to take over from the French
forces in Gao, it said.

African nations are deploying a force that may total as many as 3,300 soldiers to aid the fight against the rebels, who include Islamist militants and ethnic Touareg separatists, in the country that gained independence from France in 1960.

West African nations have decided to increase their Mali mission to 5,700 troops, General Shehu Abdulkadir, commander of the African-led international support mission to Mali, or Afisma, said today in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Separately, Chad also is sending 2,250 soldiers, Abdulkadir said.

A new contingent of African forces from Togo arrived yesterday in the central town of San, Radio Mali reported, citing Thierno Boubacar Cisse, the governor of Segou, with 209 soldiers joining Togolese troops already deployed there.

Nigerian troops started deploying on Jan. 17. President President Goodluck Jonathan has offered 1,200 soldiers to join the African force.

African leaders start a two-day meeting Sunday, Jan. 27, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss how to make sure their force has enough resources to sustain a campaign against insurgents
who control the north of Mali.

The force may cost $300 million a year, the African Union Commission’s Peace and Security Director, El-Ghassim Wane, told reporters Jan. 24.

Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Senegal, Benin and Ghana have pledged to contribute troops to the African-led force.

The insurgents took control of northern Mali, including the historic town of Timbuktu, after a coup in March last year by government soldiers complaining that they hadn’t received weapons and vehicles to fight the rebels.

News Source: Bloomberg

Scores of people marched through the streets of Banamba town in northern Mali to welcome the Nigerian troops who liberated the town from militants.
The militants were in control of the town before the deployment of Nigerian soldiers there earlier this week.

ballabriggs: Taharqa you are a fraud!

How did Nigerian forces liberate a town that was never held by rebels?




Amadioha will strike you and the criminals planting stories in the media to coverup their failures.

If at all Banamba was occupied, it would have been the first town to be rescued by the French considering its proximity to Bamako. But they started off at Diabaly which was at risk at the time. If they had waited for a criminal and incompetent Nigerian government, by now the Militants would have leveled the whole of Mali.

They are very shameless people! Instead of pondering over their failures and incompetence, they plant stories in the media with the intention to deceive people.

Tamuno where are you to punish these people one after the other. Ehn Tamuno, biko, why don't you just destroy these devils once and for all so we can have peace.

taharqa:

You mean I planted this story in DailyTrust, and then The Nation, Thisday, Guardian, Rueters, VOA, AFP etc etc?? And then when the Chief of Defense Staff visited Nigerian troops in this town, which was shown in many Nigerian TV stations, I must also have planted that in those Electronic Media using 'Photoshop in Motion', abi? CHoi, I must be very POWERFUL and INFLUENTIAL then; I mean even Water, Fire, Air and Wind- the 4 Elements of Nature- listen to my commands, I control them all LOL

redsun: It is the eguje spirit of nothing goes for nothing that has made nigerian soldiers to start begging in a war zone. Just like the nigerian police,they can't help but solicit for bribes from those they presumed to be helping.