Boko Haram: Military option must be explored- Kofi Annan

• Posted on May 8, 2014May 8, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan has said it is time for Nigeria to consider a possible military option to curtail the wave of attacks from militant group Boko Haram.

Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the former world leader said Nigeria must also begin to team up with other countries and share crucial information that would expose the activities of Boko Haram.

His comments follow recent abductions of some 200 school girls by the Islamic militant group.

Even though some of the girls escaped, the majority are suspected to have been taken out into neighboring Cameroun to be sold as sex slaves.

Mr. Kofi Annan lashed out at the Nigerian government, the African Union and ECOWAS, for doing little to solve the crisis.

He demanded action, saying, “the only way to defeat terrorism is to share information.”

He also called for the use of the country’s military personnel to intervene in the matter. He said the military have an important secondary mission to protect life and property.

Meanwhile, a security analyst Prosper Nii Addo is calling for more tact, if the military option would be explored.

He said the tactics of Boko Haram is “quite amorphous” and needed lots of intelligence to fight them.

Nii Addo said if the military option would succeed, Nigeria’s military personnel would have to be motivated.

According to him, a Nigerian Military man who wants to remain anonymous and who is part of the troops charged to fight the Boko Haram menace, disclosed how lowly motivated Nigeria’s military are.

He stated the men are not convinced their families would be well taken care of in the case of any eventuality.

Nii Addo maintained, even if US and UK military were to assist, they would still rely on the cooperation of Nigeria’s military to succeed in the fight against Boko Haram.

–Nathan Gadugah