Nigerian Army Dares Former Militant, Asari Dokubo, To Faceoff
The Nigerian Army has challenged ex-militant leader, Asari Dokubo, to face the force and feel its might.
The Army made this daring challenge on Thursday in a statement released by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj Gen Edward Buba.
This comes after Dokubo threatened to shoot down any military helicopter that flew over his house. Dokubo went further to boast of having the capabilities to go toe-to-toe with the Nigerian military.
In his response, Gen Edward Buba vowed that the military would subdue him if he dared to come face-to-face with them.
“Now, to comment that he can shoot down military helicopters is laughable, and I am tempted to laugh about that. We are in a democracy, and we are professional; we cannot simply act on someone’s comments without due consideration, lest we be accused of being undemocratic.
“The military is not the only security agency or department in the country. Other security forces have a constitutional role to play in addressing these issues.
“I assure you that he does not possess that capability, but I will leave it to the appropriate security forces to handle the matter. Our mandate is to confront him on the battlefield and take him out. He should come to the battlefield and see whether we can react or not,” Buba said.
Buba was, however, quick to note that the objective was not Dokubo, but terrorists plaguing many parts of the country.
“Our enemy is the terrorists. While some may choose to label them differently depending on the region, in the northwest and northeast, some refer to them as bandits.
“I tell you, they are all terrorists. We must label them for what they are. Troops are making significant progress; as I mentioned, we prioritise targeting terrorist leadership, and we have successfully eliminated over 300 terrorist commanders in the last three quarters, not to mention their foot soldiers.
“Our aim is to diminish their fighting capabilities and to damage their military potential, which we have been achieving. As indicated in the brief you have just received, you can see the number of weapons and ammunition we have recovered,” Buba noted.
