Soldiers’ wives’ protest

The women, numbering over 100 caused some commotion at the entrance of the 21 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Giwa Barracks in the Borno State capital. They said they disapproved of their husbands being deployed to Damboa, and other towns that reports said were overran and taken by the insurgents. The women whose action […]

The women, numbering over 100 caused some commotion at the entrance of the 21 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Giwa Barracks in the Borno State capital. They said they disapproved of their husbands being deployed to Damboa, and other towns that reports said were overran and taken by the insurgents. The women whose action restricted movement in the barracks insisted that engaging the insurgents with the kind of weapons given to the soldiers was akin to sending them on suicide mission. A similar protest took place a day earlier at the Maimalari Barracks by another group of women.
The unusual demonstration, and the media presence it generated, did not amuse the army authorities however, which issued a strong rebuke. A soldier’s responsibility in times of war is to the nation, regardless of pillow talk. That responsibility includes defending the nation against internal and external threats.  The public spectacle that the women created by their protest cannot influence the soldiers’ conduct in times like this, with a vicious insurgency that has so far defied efforts to quell it.
The posting of soldiers is a purely military matter and should not be determined or controlled by spouses or any individual outside the command structure. The women should accept the reality that they cannot influence the deployment of their husbands and must desist from actions that will further worsen the security situation in Maiduguri and environs. The least they can do under these unfortunate circumstances is to support and encourage their husbands while channelling any concern through relevant sororities like the Army Officers’ Wives association to appropriate quarters.  
The women’s protest adds to a growing list of expressions of concern, including by highly placed individuals and some of the soldiers themselves, that battlefield officers are not adequately equipped to confront a determined enemy. The Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, once complained that the terrorists were better armed than the soldiers sent to engage them.  Former Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, made similar claim. Although the military has consistently denied that personnel were not properly equipped, the frequency with which the insurgents carry out deadly attacks unchallenged presents a different picture. Too many soldiers have lost their lives in confrontation with the insurgents.
Aggregating such concerns, and taking into consideration reports of desertion by enlisted servicemen, the government and military authorities must quickly address equipment gaps for those sent into combat zones.  The threat to throw the protesting women out of the barracks does not begin to address the issue they raised. Being witnesses to the widowhood of colleagues may have spurred them into the obviously troubling route of making their voices heard. Expressing anxiety about their own fate, some of them alleged that their widowed colleagues were ‘abandoned to their fate’ after losing husbands in encounters with the Boko Haram insurgents.
An ill-equipped force could lead to the lowering of morale, with all its attendant consequences; this is what the army authorities must strive to avoid.   If the huge funds allocated for defence purposes are judiciously utilized, the country would have overcome, or at least contained, the insurgency by now. To further motivate our men and women in uniform sent to trouble spots, families whose breadwinners paid the supreme price on the battlefield in defending the nation must be appropriately recognised. This is where the T. Y. Danjuma committee set up to assist the victims of the Boko Haram could play a crucial role in addressing the women’s fears.