₦airaland Forum

stebell:
Ewu. Now that yu have given us the boko haram news of them chasing our soldiers, yu are happy rite. Child of hate and anger.
Your plans of seeing Naija overrun by BH will not work.

Naija will surely overcome. And all yu janjaweeeeds can do is deactivate ur acct and go into hiding. Fooooools

GEJ till yu get sense.

Elgaxton:
20 years of service in the army and you ended up as a sergeant. How? Abeg this story no tally at all.

Unemadu:
Many years of millitary foray into politics has destroyed our millitary over so many years. Our military never really saw real battles, only peace keeping missions.

So much so that this deserter now complains of being fed with "tasteless rice"

So much so that they were looking foward to foreign missions because they know its all about making money without shooting a bullet.

Joining the millitary is " man know man" and highly favours some particular section of the country.


Soldiers fight and soldiers die that is what they sign up for and not to sit and be feeding fat.

Best wishes to the fighting men and women in the theater of war.

SergeAlain:
Have thoroughly read and digested the accounts of this soldier. I have never been in the army and so my comments cannot be out of experience. However, i have followed military history and technology for over 20 years and so i have a number of opinions based on what i have seen/read from other military campaigns etc.

In general let me start by saying that the Nigerian Army has not been professionally run since the days of IBB when it became a legitimate govt tactic to under equip and under train the military for fear of coups. Gen Ihejirika admitted when he took over that there had been no training exercises for years before he came in, troops were forbidden to even warm the tanks and fighting vehicles lest it became an excuse for mobilising for a coup. thus many of those equipment were patently serviceable by the time the BH insurgency escalated late 2013. Bearing that in mind the soldier in question had not been involved in real military maneuvers since he returned from Sierra Leone.

1. It is obvious that the soldiers were already scared once they heard they were going to the North East (in the training camp), and so they were actually already defeated. All that was needed was for BH to show up and they were ready to run. Hence the insistence on Aircraft, helicopters and tanks to do the main fighting so that they would be left with only mopping up. Mean while the Boko haram you are fighting is armed mainly with what you guys throw away/abandon as you are fleeing.

2. He made mention of the enemy using anti aircraft guns against men. For the un initiated this is true. BH uses high calibre guns from 12.7mm to 23mm mounted on trucks against the Nigerian Army, and the effect is deadly. However, we have now gotten to where the Soldiers are so scared that the mere sound of those guns appears to make them flee. What then would the Army do if it was involved in a conventional war (the soldier mentioned conventional war as if he were wishing for it Lolz) where the other army is well armed like yourself. E.g. If we actually got into a war with Chad or cameroun, these same soldiers would face sustained pounding by artillery (105mm to 155mm) and motars (81mm to 120mm) sometimes for days before you see the enemy infantry. Whereas Boko haram's anti aircraft guns have a range of 1.5 to 2km, some of the conventional artillery have ranges of over 15km. In fact what would the Army do if they were bombed by chad's Mig 29 fighter jets? In summary, if you cant cope with insurgents, dont even talk of conventional war, you would be a non starter.

3. He talked about adversity on the war front. I will respond with two stories-
a. During the Falklands war in 1982, the British army attacked the islands to recover them from Argentina (you can google it if you are interested). The plan was for soldiers to be airlifted from one battle to another by helicopters. Most of the choppers were based on a container ship called HMS Atlantic conveyor. Unfortunately fairly early in the war, Argentine aircraft attacked and sunk the ship with all the helicopters on board. As a result the British Royal Marines and Parachute regiments had to walk over 80miles from the landing point at Port San Carlos to the main Argentine strong hold in the capital Port Stanley. They achieved this carrying over 120 pounds of equipment each! In sometimes freezing climatic conditions and while enduring stiff rear guard actions from Argentine commandos. They still did their job. They did not use this as an excuse to run away.

b. The Biafrans faced continuously superior odds sometimes with no food for days, but they stood and fought for 30 months before surrendering. The soldier talks about receiving N1,000 per day vs N5,000 per day. Is this why he ran away? by the way where was he spending this money in a war zone? The issue bils down to resolve, and sadly it speaks about how seriously we take our Country to start with.


4. He mentioned being issued 3 magazines (i guess of at least 20-30 bullets each). The adequacy of this is relative. In the British Army a combat load of about 6-7 magazines were customary. However, it would be nice to check how many bullets the Boko Haram fighters carry each, and you might be surprised. As an example we may revisit the case of the Biafran Army. Those brave boys were sometimes sent into battle with as few as 10 bullets each. However, their saving grace was that they mostly carried Mauser and Le Enfield bolt action rifles (what you might call 'cock and shoot') this tends to make the soldier try to make every round count unlike when you have an auto rifle. The other matter is of course the range of your weapon--- In the North East engagement ranges of over 500m are normal, whereas the Nigerian Army standard issue weapon the AK 47 is only accurate to about 250m (this is no short range, bear in mind that at 200m a man is about the height of a small pencil and very few soldiers can shoot accurately at that range irrespective of the weapon they are carrying). Thus the bottom line is fire discipline. Hold your fire until the enemy closes to within your accurate shooting range e.g. 150m and then give them hell!!! To achieve this you need disciplined soldiers, who are accustomed to being shot at. Disciplined soldiers who before hand have dug real deep dug outs with proper sandbagged positions, so that once your head is down, you are safe even from shelling by 155mm artillery (except of course there was a direct hit). Just consider, a force of 300 soldiers each with 30 bullets. If they achieve even a 20% hit ratio, each man would hit 6 enemy. I.e. Boko Haram would have taken 1,800 casualties. This is a bit theoretical, but you can see that 3(90 bullets) magazines (per man)well utilized would have stopped the BH in their tracks.

In summary, the work of a Soldier is not easy and it is clear many people in the Army today dont know what they are there for. When you live in free accommodation, enjoy free transport (as staff), free clothing for 5 days of the week, and draw a salary. You should DO your job when the time comes. Complain about the N4,000 short fall after you have won, and see if Nigerians will not fight for you to get your money.

Men are defined not by how they respond when times are easy, but how they react to adversity!!

IT IS INSTRUCTIVE THAT NOT ALL THE SOLDIERS IN QUESTION CHOSE TO RUN AWAY! Some who suffered the same issues as him are still diligently doing their job and are involved today in the crushing of this same Boko haram whom this soldier is making to appear invincible and immortal!!!

I rest my case sirs!

poiZon:
liberia n sierra leone was peace mission not war!
this is d real war jst like what bush sent us arrmy to irag n afghan. even with their superior powers n arsenal they lost men of valour too n we dnt evn knw hw much was sunk into the war.
if u see hw soldiers lobby to go on peace mission u will weep for this country

SergeAlain:
Have thoroughly read and digested the accounts of this soldier. I have never been in the army and so my comments cannot be out of experience. However, i have followed military history and technology for over 20 years and so i have a number of opinions based on what i have seen/read from other military campaigns etc.

In general let me start by saying that the Nigerian Army has not been professionally run since the days of IBB when it became a legitimate govt tactic to under equip and under train the military for fear of coups. Gen Ihejirika admitted when he took over that there had been no training exercises for years before he came in, troops were forbidden to even warm the tanks and fighting vehicles lest it became an excuse for mobilising for a coup. thus many of those equipment were patently serviceable by the time the BH insurgency escalated late 2013. Bearing that in mind the soldier in question had not been involved in real military maneuvers since he returned from Sierra Leone.

1. It is obvious that the soldiers were already scared once they heard they were going to the North East (in the training camp), and so they were actually already defeated. All that was needed was for BH to show up and they were ready to run. Hence the insistence on Aircraft, helicopters and tanks to do the main fighting so that they would be left with only mopping up. Mean while the Boko haram you are fighting is armed mainly with what you guys throw away/abandon as you are fleeing.

2. He made mention of the enemy using anti aircraft guns against men. For the un initiated this is true. BH uses high calibre guns from 12.7mm to 23mm mounted on trucks against the Nigerian Army, and the effect is deadly. However, we have now gotten to where the Soldiers are so scared that the mere sound of those guns appears to make them flee. What then would the Army do if it was involved in a conventional war (the soldier mentioned conventional war as if he were wishing for it Lolz) where the other army is well armed like yourself. E.g. If we actually got into a war with Chad or cameroun, these same soldiers would face sustained pounding by artillery (105mm to 155mm) and motars (81mm to 120mm) sometimes for days before you see the enemy infantry. Whereas Boko haram's anti aircraft guns have a range of 1.5 to 2km, some of the conventional artillery have ranges of over 15km. In fact what would the Army do if they were bombed by chad's Mig 29 fighter jets? In summary, if you cant cope with insurgents, dont even talk of conventional war, you would be a non starter.

3. He talked about adversity on the war front. I will respond with two stories-
a. During the Falklands war in 1982, the British army attacked the islands to recover them from Argentina (you can google it if you are interested). The plan was for soldiers to be airlifted from one battle to another by helicopters. Most of the choppers were based on a container ship called HMS Atlantic conveyor. Unfortunately fairly early in the war, Argentine aircraft attacked and sunk the ship with all the helicopters on board. As a result the British Royal Marines and Parachute regiments had to walk over 80miles from the landing point at Port San Carlos to the main Argentine strong hold in the capital Port Stanley. They achieved this carrying over 120 pounds of equipment each! In sometimes freezing climatic conditions and while enduring stiff rear guard actions from Argentine commandos. They still did their job. They did not use this as an excuse to run away.

b. The Biafrans faced continuously superior odds sometimes with no food for days, but they stood and fought for 30 months before surrendering. The soldier talks about receiving N1,000 per day vs N5,000 per day. Is this why he ran away? by the way where was he spending this money in a war zone? The issue bils down to resolve, and sadly it speaks about how seriously we take our Country to start with.


4. He mentioned being issued 3 magazines (i guess of at least 20-30 bullets each). The adequacy of this is relative. In the British Army a combat load of about 6-7 magazines were customary. However, it would be nice to check how many bullets the Boko Haram fighters carry each, and you might be surprised. As an example we may revisit the case of the Biafran Army. Those brave boys were sometimes sent into battle with as few as 10 bullets each. However, their saving grace was that they mostly carried Mauser and Le Enfield bolt action rifles (what you might call 'cock and shoot') this tends to make the soldier try to make every round count unlike when you have an auto rifle. The other matter is of course the range of your weapon--- In the North East engagement ranges of over 500m are normal, whereas the Nigerian Army standard issue weapon the AK 47 is only accurate to about 250m (this is no short range, bear in mind that at 200m a man is about the height of a small pencil and very few soldiers can shoot accurately at that range irrespective of the weapon they are carrying). Thus the bottom line is fire discipline. Hold your fire until the enemy closes to within your accurate shooting range e.g. 150m and then give them hell!!! To achieve this you need disciplined soldiers, who are accustomed to being shot at. Disciplined soldiers who before hand have dug real deep dug outs with proper sandbagged positions, so that once your head is down, you are safe even from shelling by 155mm artillery (except of course there was a direct hit). Just consider, a force of 300 soldiers each with 30 bullets. If they achieve even a 20% hit ratio, each man would hit 6 enemy. I.e. Boko Haram would have taken 1,800 casualties. This is a bit theoretical, but you can see that 3(90 bullets) magazines (per man)well utilized would have stopped the BH in their tracks.

In summary, the work of a Soldier is not easy and it is clear many people in the Army today dont know what they are there for. When you live in free accommodation, enjoy free transport (as staff), free clothing for 5 days of the week, and draw a salary. You should DO your job when the time comes. Complain about the N4,000 short fall after you have won, and see if Nigerians will not fight for you to get your money.

Men are defined not by how they respond when times are easy, but how they react to adversity!!

IT IS INSTRUCTIVE THAT NOT ALL THE SOLDIERS IN QUESTION CHOSE TO RUN AWAY! Some who suffered the same issues as him are still diligently doing their job and are involved today in the crushing of this same Boko haram whom this soldier is making to appear invincible and immortal!!!

I rest my case sirs!

Elgaxton:
20 years of service in the army and you ended up as a sergeant. How? Abeg this story no tally at all.

corozy:
look at this stupid fool abeg..........wel it's becoz ur father or any of ur family member is nt a soldr dat y u are lamenting rabbish.....if assuming the ryt weapons are provided the killing of soldrs wil nt be like dis,and u are here screaming Clueless Gej til u join becom Bokoharam rubbish....

LRNZH:
You should be ashamed of this poo you just dropped.
Even if you catch GEJ raping your mum in the anus you will still shout GEJ till....hell fire. I pity you.

Unemadu:
Many years of millitary foray into politics has destroyed our millitary over so many years. Our military never really saw real battles, only peace keeping missions.

So much so that this deserter now complains of being fed with "tasteless rice"

So much so that they were looking foward to foreign missions because they know its all about making money without shooting a bullet.

Joining the millitary is " man know man" and highly favours some particular section of the country.


Soldiers fight and soldiers die that is what they sign up for and not to sit and be feeding fat.

Best wishes to the fighting men and women in the theater of war.

WendellSimilin:
The English is too refined for a Nigerian soldier? How many Nigerian soldiers have you spoken to? Very hilarious statement...and if you think this story is a fiction from somebody's imagination,then I have nothing to say to you.

rabzy:
Please don't mention the chadians and cameroonians. What have they done, when did they join d war, and what have they done that the Nigerian army has not done 10 fold. BH has turned these countries into launching pads and if not the outcry of the NA and subsequently france's pressure they would have still be sitting on their asses.

chronique:
Unfortunately,I don't believe this for two reasons.

1. OP is a confirmed BH supporter. He's always excited about stories that portray the NA as weak,and BH as having the upper hand in this battle. I remember how He gave the recent victory over BH,to Chad and was placing a bet on BH to overrun the NA some few weeks back when they(BH) attacked Maiduguri.

2. Secondly,the soldier in the story claims they were initially preparing to go on a peace keeping mission in Liberia in this february before being posted to go fight in the N.E. From the much I know,I do not think Nigeria is currently involved in any peace keeping mission in Liberia. Those sent on peace keeping missions in Mali,have been recalled back. So what peace keeping mission exactly,was this soldier going for in Liberia?

SirAweezy:
My friend will you keep quiet! What boko haram are you fighting and you are having access to the internet right noow... Where are you serving? Do you see the way boko haram took over 243 battalion in mongunu(if yo are a soldier anyway). All soldiers deserted their command...including senior officers... I'm still looking for my brother till date army has no info abt is where-about. The last time he was shot by the BH. The family treated him with their own money.. By the time he reported to back to base.. Some1 had been collecting is bonus fee(the one giving to multinational joint task force) and signing for collection.

Please don't say what you don't know... You don't call such a man lazy next time...

Franzeez:
Your brother is a lazy fool. Oh, so who told you I can't have my phone here with me? Secondly stop saying what you dont know. We have no reply to give you. U said your family treated your brother. That's a lie, because wounded soilders are not let out back to family, they are taken straight to military hospital. May be your brother was trying to abscond and got bulleted. Lol ...... Perherps bullet injury are not treated without police report and any police station must give report to civilians not military. Tell that lie to the chickens

SirAweezy:
My friend... My brother saved a whole barrack in Bama as at last year, when boko haram came in pretending to be nepa... He is a hero, very popular one.

You are the one who is a bloody civillian... Let me tell you how it goes... "Mofo" during the engagement, when he was shot... He was taking to the military hospital and they removed the bullet, but your incompetent military hospital didn't fully removed the bullet so his leg started getting swollen again... He went back to the same hospital and was there for 2months, they finally said they were going to cut the leg, that was when my dad came in.. And he was transfer to yaba, at our cost, treated for one full year... While he send signal every 2months, at the end the doctor advice that they should not allow him wear boot anymore, after a year and some months he went back to his command, even when every one beg him not to go back... Will you call sch a fellow a "lazy fool"?

I still insist you are not a military.. If you are you identify with the problem I've explain earlier.... I pray they draft you to the battle front soon, if you actally are...

Currently I'm prevy to lots of info than you are.. I know abt most of the ops.. My friend it obvious you are small boy... Wasted enough time on you already.. Take care!

Franzeez:
Your lazy brother that can't save himself, saved a barracks? You must be high on weed. Ur brother is lazy, stop spoiling our job cos of stupid statement u credit to ur bro.

SirAweezy:
I wish you know me, and know the person you are talking abt... You won't say all this poo.. Mr Self acclaim soldier... Was it not on thursday that the search and rescue ops begin in mongunu... What I'm telling u... Eveen the brigade commandant of Reece batalion took to his heel (that morning Boko haram attacked). It's so obvious you aint a soldier...

Franzeez:
Your brother is lazy, bust tarnishing the image of our job