The Defence Headquarters stated on Thursday that it chose not to go after former Niger Delta militant warlord, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, to avoid being accused of acting “undemocratically.”
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, made this remark in Abuja while responding to a recent report about Asari-Dokubo’s alleged threat to shoot down a military helicopter that had reportedly hovered around his residence.
Addressing journalists, the DHQ spokesman described Asari-Dokubo’s threat as laughable, challenging him to confront soldiers on the battlefield if he was bold enough.
Buba said, “Now, the comment by an individual that he can shoot down military helicopters is laughable. And I am about to laugh at that. We are in a democracy, and we are professionals. Of course, we cannot just, based on somebody’s comments, begin to take certain actions. They would accuse the military of being undemocratic.
“The military is not the only security force or department in the country. There are other security agencies that have a constitutional role to play in handling such issues.
“I tell you that he doesn’t have that capability, but I will allow the security forces responsible for such matters to take it up. As for us, come to the battlefield, and we’ll take you out. He should come to the battlefield and see whether we can react or not.”
Buba explained that the military’s focus remained on combating terrorists across various theatres of operations.
He said, “For us, the enemy we fight are the terrorists. Some may choose to call them different names in the different theatres of operations where they exist. In the North-West and North-East, some will say terrorists; some may prefer to call them bandits.
“I tell you, they are all terrorists, and that is what we see. Troops are making significant progress. As I mentioned earlier, we prioritise eliminating terrorist leadership, and we have been doing just that. In the last three quarters, we have taken out over 300 terrorist commanders, not to mention their foot soldiers.
“Our aim is to diminish their fighting capabilities and damage their military capabilities, which we have been successfully doing. As indicated in the brief you received, you can see how many weapons and ammunition we have recovered.”
