Lawmaker defends Army on redeployment of senior officers

A member of the Federal House of Representatives and the Deputy Chairman House Committee on Army, Hon. Tajudeen Adefisoye has risen in defense of the Nigerian Army on the recent redeployment of some senior officers.

Fielding questions from newsmen, the Federal House of Representatives member who is representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency said on Friday that the argument that greeted the redeployment of Major General Olusegun Adeniyi was needless.

Adefisoye explained that not less than twenty senior officers were affected in the regular redeployment exercise. He described the castigation of the Nigerian Army on account of the redeployment of one officer out of twenty that were redeployed as unwarranted.

It will be recalled that Maj. Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi was a few days ago removed as the Theatre Commander of Operation LAFIYA DOLE and redeployed to the Nigerian Army Resource Centre as a Senior Research Fellow.

He (Adefisoye) said, “Removing the Chief of Army Staff is not the solution to ending this Boko Haram war. On the other hand, the removal of the Theatre Commander is a tactical strategy that aimed at ensuring the total defeat of Boko Haram. We need to realize that the Chief of Army Staff who is in charge of that institution has undoubtedly passed through the ranks of the Army before he became a Lieutenant General”.

“The Army Chief had seen it all and fought in several wars within and outside the country. I am quite upbeat that General Tukur Burutai is very much on course to defeat Boko Haram if only we could give him our maximum support.

“The bitter truth about the insurgency war is that replacement of the Chief of Army Staff with another member of his team or perhaps a junior officer will still not make any difference. The expected result of this insurgency may be a mirage after all if we don’t collectively fight the Boko Haram insurgency.

“It is an expected that even if a junior officer is appointed to replace General Burutai today, the same junior officer will still run to the present Army Chief for all sorts of advising every now and then”.

He said, “Soldiers are trained to fight wars and defend the territorial integrity of the country. We must note that the Nigerian Army has its modus operandi and strategic approaches to different operations. On the basis of this, we can only advise them and not question them on why an officer was transferred from a command to another”.

He also added that the Chief of Army Staff has the duty to redeploy and undertake the regular evaluation of the operational success or otherwise of all the officers that are working in all Army formations across the country.

“I am of the opinion that civilians are not expertly qualified to question the operational tactics and redeployment in the Army. Officers can be transferred from one command to another at any time if it is well perceived that old strategies are no longer yielding the desired result for the military institution”, emphasized Adefisoye.