Maiduguri - Military wives
in thecity of Maiduguri
have taken to the streets
this week, burning tyres to
prevent their husbands
being sent to fight Boko
Haram.
About 300 women and
500 children have for two
days gathered at the gates
of a military base in the
Borno state capital,
claiming that their spouses
were ill-equipped to take
on the militants.
Boko Haram has been
waging a brutal insurgency
since 2009 which has left
thousands of people dead,
despite a state of
emergency imposed in
three northeast states since
May 2013 and a troop
surge.
The soldiers stationed in
Maiduguri were due to
retake the town of Gwoza,
which Boko Haram overran
last week after killing
dozens and sending
hundreds more fleeing.
"No weapons for our
husbands, no trip to
Gwoza or any volatile
place. We are tired of
burying our loved ones,"
Thabita John, one of the
protesting wives, said on
Monday.
She added that the soldiers
were "ill-equipped to fight
the dreaded Boko Haram".
Another soldier's wife,
Rahina Ali, added: "Our
husbands are always given
inferior weapons while the
Boko Haram have superior
weapons."
The military wives staged a
similar protest on
Saturday.
Some survivors of the
attack on Gwoza managed
to make it to Maiduguri,
around 135km away, but
hundreds more were
trapped on a nearby
mountain and short on
food.
Government spokesperson
Mike Omeri dismissed the
protest on Tuesday, saying
troops were adequately
equipped.
Uninformed
"The army officers' wives
are not professionals to
know the capacity of guns
and weapons that they are
carrying," Omeri told
reporters in the capital,
Abuja.
President Goodluck
Jonathan's declaration of a
state of emergency in
Borno and neighbouring
Yobe and Adamawa
initially saw Boko Haram
pushed out of urban
centres.
But the thousands of extra
troops, vehicles and
aircraft have largely failed
to stop militant attacks in
more remote, rural areas.
This year, attacks have
occurred on an almost
daily basis.
Locals claim that some
parts of the northeast are
effectively no-go areas for
the military, with Boko
Haram apparently better
equipped than the soldiers
sent to fight them.
Survivors of attacks
frequently recount how the
militants used semi-
automatic weapons,
rocket-propelled grenades
and even armoured
personnel carriers.
One soldier who spoke on
condition of anonymity
said that the troops in the
barracks in Maiduguri
relied on run-down
equipment.
"Our wives are speaking
our minds... we are grossly
under-equipped," the
soldier said. "Our guns are
weak and armoured
carriers not serviceable."