“Mallam Yushau, can you see me at Niger Barrack today?” – General Attahiru

I received the above phone message on Sallah Day, Thursday May 13, 2021, from the late General Ibrahim Attahiru, the former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) just a week before his death alongside other military officers in a plane crash in Kaduna.

The nation was thrown into mourning over his death even as his immediate past predecessor and Ambassador-Designate, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), noted that Attahiru was on the verge of making the nation proud in the national counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts when the tragedy occurred.

Gov Babagana Zulum of Borno State also admitted that the late COAS was evidently committed to the fight against Boko Haram and determined to contribute significantly to ending the insurgency.

Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari praised Attahiru for his gallantry in the war against insurgency and described him as a military chief who led from the front. Equally, former President Goodluck Jonathan highly commended the late Army Chief and other officers who died in the course of service to the country as patriots who died with their boots on.

On that Sallah Day when I received his invitation, I reached out to the Army spokesperson, Brigadier-General Mohammed Yerima and we both drove to General Attahiru’s residence. There, we were received by his then ADC, the now late Major Lawal Hayat, who ushered us into the lobby, since the COAS was then with the Chief of Intelligence, now late Brig-Gen Abdulrahman Kuliya, and his Chief of Staff, also now late Brig-Gen Mohammed Abdulkadir.

While waiting in the lobby, I recalled my first encounter with Attahiru about eight years ago, precisely on November 29, 2013, when the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) had hosted security spokespersons and top editors of media houses to an interactive forum intended to create and sustain a working relationship between the media and the security sector, towards promoting the national interest.

Attahiru was then the Army spokesperson and Director of Army Public Relations. It was the outcome of that meeting that gave birth to the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA). During the meeting, he was articulate and demonstrated eloquence, as he emphasised the desirability of information-driven by the media, intelligence gathering inspired by communities, and counterterrorism championed by the military and other security services.

It was after that encounter that we sustained a brotherly relationship and I gradually came into a greater awareness of Attahiru, not only as a very keen professional who understood his brief at each point and always delivered on this to the best of his ability, but equally as a highly humane person with a strong sense of empathy, support and solidarity.

As fate would have it, he had recorded successes in the various offices he held, even if these were just brief stints. He accomplished assigned tasks when he was a Military Commander in the Bakassi Peninsula and the Niger Delta region before becoming General Officer Commanding, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.

While he was Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in North-Eastern Nigeria for just six months in 2018, he brought relative stability to the region, with the elimination of several Boko Haram commanders and the surrender of their combatants.

Similarly, his outstanding records are glaring when he was Deputy Chief of Policy and Plans at the Army Headquarters, and later as the Chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation, and the Chief of Defence Logistics at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

Apart from acquiring higher levels of education at the Salford, Bournemouth, Nairobi, China and Geneva, Attahiru had served as an Instructor at the Depot Nigerian Army, Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army School of Infantry. He later became Chief Instructor at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Nigeria.

On his appointment as Chief of Army Staff, the late military tactician had exhibited a very national outlook in the deployment of officers, with his approach also anchored on the principles of seniority, professionalism, and competence. For strategic reasons, he had deployed heroic field commanders of Southern origin for operations in the North of Nigeria, and similarly, gallant officers from the North were assigned to operations in the South. It was, therefore, not surprising when he retained some of his course mates in the service and assigned one of the most senior Army officers, General Ben Ahonatu from Anambra State as the Chief of Policy and Plan (COPP) at the Army Headquarters.

Apart from his nationalistic deployment of officers, he undertook several risky missions to the theatres of operation nationwide to motivate the troops and give assurance to host communities. He occasionally gave deadlines for military operations. For instance, on February 22, 2021, while on the frontline in Dikwa, he ordered the troops of the then Operation Lafiya Dole under the command of General Faruq Yahaya to clear and recover “Marte, Chikungu, Wulgo, Kirenowa and Kita in Borno State from terrorists within 48 hours.” The nation was delighted when the military met the deadline by eliminating scores of terrorists and rescuing many victims. He had also been very resolute and passionate on the indivisibility of Nigeria that he was determined to tackle secessionist agitators frontally.

While it would be inappropriate to delve into the nitty-gritty of intelligence work, the late COAS’s deployment of Brigadier General Kuliya as the spy chief was widely celebrated in the security services as that decision played significant roles in disorganising terrorist camps through strategic infiltration.

Following the penetration Kuliya had engineered, violent confrontations broke out among fighters of the Boko Haram and ISWAP groups, leading to the reported death of the erstwhile Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, among others.

As I ruminated over Attahiru’s accomplishments within a short period in office, Major Hayat walked into the lobby with the information that the Army Chief was ready to receive us on that Sallah day. We then ran into and exchanged greetings and banters with Brigadiers-General Kuliya and Abdulkadir, who were on their way out of the residence.

On meeting him, General Attahiru had asked after the preparations we were making for the then forthcoming training of Army Public Relations Officers (PROs), which was scheduled for the following week, from May 19 to 22, 2021. I informed him that everything was going well, according to the coordination plan of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) and the Department of Army Public Relations (DAPR).

Attahiru believed that a mutual relationship between military spokespersons and the media would go a long way in achieving positive results in counter-insurgency campaigns. He always advised security spokespersons to enhance their conflict-sensitive communications skills, in order to build mutual trust with the civil populace.

General Attahiru had assured us that he would be present at the Opening Ceremony of the workshop before we left him that day as he prepared to travel to the frontline to celebrate Sallah Festivity with the troops the following day.

On the first day of the workshop, he could not make it because he attended a Conference of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) in Ibadan, Oyo State. On the second day, he could not make it because he attended an Air Force programme with the Minister of Defence in Makurdi, Benue State. On the third day and closing ceremony of the PR workshop, General Attahiru could still not make it because he was attending important security engagements and preparing for another official trip the same day. After his afternoon prayers, he was flown out of Abuja to Kaduna for the newer official assignment, and the plane crashed just before their arrival at the destination.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author An Encounter with the Spymaster
yashuaib@yahoo.com

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What can one do when the terrorists (Boko Haram/ISWAP) who claim to be Muslims living among Muslims are killing Muslims without any mercy?

I just watched a video of Kanuri converts to other religion when the leadership and majority of Boko Haram are from the same ethnic group

What can one do when the terrorists (Boko Haram/ISWAP) who claim to be Muslims living among Muslims are killing Muslims without any mercy? At least 80% of abducted travellers between Maiduguri and Damaturu on the New year days are MUSLIMS.

Only those deeply-knowledgeable on Islam and strong-hearted would never doubt their faith when lunatics create wrong impressions on the noble teaching of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

A Muslim is not only a believer by birth but by studying the holy scriptures, understanding, observing and practicing the tenets and principles of Islam. That is why I am proud to be a Muslim as I campaign against terrorists committing monstrous atrocities in the name of Islam in North-East and elsewhere.

And the NAKED TRUTH IS THAT THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITIES KNOW THEM. Not all of us can be fooled.

Yushau A. Shuaib

www.YAShuaib.com

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“My namesake, I commend your relentless counterinsurgency media campaigns against our enemies, on a pro bono basis without a penny from the military. Please sustain the tempo.” – General Yushau Abubakar

General Buratai, the above message was sent to me by the first Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Yushau Mahmood Abubakar, when he was redeployed to the Nigerian Army Headquarters as the Chief of Training and Operation in January 2016. He later died in a very mysterious accident along Damaturu-Maiduguri road two months later in March 2016. It is one of several goodwill messages receive from top military officers and soldiers. I must also appreciate your goodwill message too when I voluntarily retired from the public service last year.

As you are aware, this is not the first open letter to you or article that I have written about you and the Nigerian Army under your watch (https://cutt.ly/burataimemo). I am writing presently to draw your attention to the highly libelous and defamatory rejoinder written about me by one Terrence Kuanum, who is allegedly working as a contractor/activist for and supported by the Nigerian Army.

In his over 3000 words-long defamatory piece, reveling in insidiously false claims, Mr. Terrence labeled me a Boko Haram supporter, ISWAP propagandist and that I was on the payroll of terrorists, while offering his distorted and apparently suborned response to my recent Memo to President Buhari on the Service Chiefs.

In that Memo, I had argued on the need for the present service chiefs to be let go when the ovation is still audible, and after giving the best of their skills to the nation, while also allowing for a smooth progression in service through the promotion of other competent military officers to the Next Level. My argument was anchored on the necessity of enabling a new cadre of officers and set of competencies to come through in the national security architecture, if the war on terror in the country must be won.

Yet, President Buhari has the right to decide otherwise, since he has signed the revised, though restricted, document on the Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service for Nigerian Armed Forces Officer (HTACOS) in 2018, which now includes a provision stating that: “Notwithstanding (retirement age or expiry of tenure), the President, C-in-C reserves the prerogative to extend the tenure of CDS/Service Chief irrespective of his age or length of Service.”

From available records and an Internet search, the activities and statements of the said Terrence revolve around his membership of a so-called Global Amnesty International Network, a National Coalition Against Terrorism, an obscure website known as Television Nigeria (TVN) and other shadowy groups to support the Nigerian Army.

Surprisingly, in his deliberate effort to incite the military and the victims of terrorists against me, on the basis of false accusations, Terrence compromised the websites of highly credible, as well as notoriously incredible media platforms, by planting his offensive article, mostly without the knowledge of the publishers and editors of some of these platforms. Subsequently, about 15 of these media have had to delete the highly libellous content from their websites, while offering their profound apologies.

Considering the gravity of the false accusations and information that he has been sharing, coupled with the criminality of spreading fake news and hate speech, through the breaching of the standards of a number of media platforms, I have since petitioned security and intelligence agencies, including the Police, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department for State Services (DSS) to investigate these allegations and the motive behind the malicious attacks I have been subjected to. I have also provided these agencies with the details of the web links and screenshots of the websites on which this defamatory information has been circulated.

Surprisingly, more than two weeks after my petition, Terrence seems untouchable, as the security agencies have not been able to take any action on him, even as he has had the audacity to publicly launch a book in Abuja last week, where he blamed the victims of terror for being their own nemesis.

I feel disappointed that after serving critical institutions in Nigeria, the system appears not able or willing to protect one from malicious, inciteful and false allegations that could possibly lead to the loss of one’s life. Yet, only recently, security personnel arrested the young Editor of an online medium, the Webmaster of this medium, alongside one of its reporters, and arraigned them in court in another state over a harmless investigative report against drug addiction that was carried out. How come drawing attention to the sinister motivation behind such a grave matter as the false allegation of Boko Haram membership, which could possibly subject one to lynching, is being treated with levity?

General Buratai, sir, since your appointment as Chief of Army Staff, after your sojourn as the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Chad Republic in 2015, I and my organisation have reported the activities of the Nigerian Army at no single cost to the Nigerian Army till date.

When the alleged Dubai property of your family went viral, our platform, PRNigeria provided the other necessary perspective on the issue to the Nigerian public, on the basis of the information and documents provided to us by your associates and a presidential spokesperson. (https://cutt.ly/burataidubai)

During the Shiite-Army fracas in December 2015, our medium, in close liaison with your spokesperson, became the major source of syndication of news and videos of your appeal to the protesters before the situation went awry a few days later (https://cutt.ly/buratai).

We have also provided credible intelligence and engaged in and supported strategic media censorship for the protection of national security. These are facts that your respective spokespersons and spy chiefs can easily attest to pertaining to our professional integrity and ethical practice.

It, therefore, beats my imagination that a fellow associated with, patronized and allegedly funded by the Army could be allowed to disparage my reputation to no consequence till date.

My appeal to you as the Chief of Army Staff is to be wary of those who may be dropping your name or that of the military to engage in silly activities and criminal offences.

I also urge the security services to be fair and just in protecting and treating Nigerians equally before the law, especially on cases involved heavy cybercrime offences.

I trust that your sense of professionalism and reasonable conduct would make you investigate and call those behind this unfortunate situation to order. Thank you.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Founder PRNigeria and Author of An Encounter with the Spymaster

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