Months of speculation about imminent changes in the top echelon of the Nigerian Army finally has become reality with major shake-up that resulted in the appointment of a new Director Military Intelligence and an acting Provost Marshall.
Information about the appointment, filtered in on Friday. And now Major-General S.A Adebayo, takes over as the new Director Military Intelligence (DMI), while Brigadier-General H. Ahmed, is acting Provost Marshal (Army).
The redeployment, Daily Sun had revelealed, might not be unconnected with the allegation of negligence in the area of intelligence gathering and information management concerning the abduction of the female students of Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State by the Boko Haram terrorists group.
Others affected in the redeployment, contained in a document of posting and appointment/amendment of Nigerian Army officers, signed by Major-General F. Yamaha, Military Secretary (Army), included Majors-General H. Garba, who is now Chief of Defence Logistics, K I Abdulkareem, Nigerian Army Resource Centre, A. A. Tarfa, former DMI, to Nigerian Army Corp of Artillery as Corps Commander and A. M. Dikko, to Defence Headquarters.
Affected in the shake up-are also I O Rabiu, J B Olawunmi, Corp Commander Nigerian Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, G Oyefosobi, Commander, NATRAC, KAY Isiyaku, A T Haman, former Provost Marshall is to move to the DHQ, as Director Peace Keeping Operations, M O Uzoh, DHQ, AM Aliyu, to Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and HTZ Vintinaba, to DHQ.
Brigadiers-General FOE Pearce, NAWC, S. Mohammed, Acting Director DMPIA, and A A Aribiyi, are also on the list.
Sources told Daily Sun that while the Army authorities might not be taking the allegations by Amnesty International for its inability to act on advance warnings that a convoy of Boko Haram fighters was heading towards a town where the schoolgirls were abducted, it is also not taking the warning contained in a memo dated February, 8, from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), alerting of an impending attack by the terrorists lightly.
Besides, President Muhammadu Buhari’s warning to security chiefs earlier on Friday to sit up or have themselves to blame as he could no longer tolerate any lapses in the security sector, was also not being taken lightly by Army authorities.
It was also gathered that the Army authorities which felt very embarrassed over the abduction which was described as disgraceful by the Federal Government is digging deep to get to the root of the matter.
In the coming days, more changes should be expected according to sources to pave a new course for the counter terrorists war.
