By Jude Atupulazi
Since Nigeria commenced the war against insurgency, many muted stories have been emerging, but generally, many people have chosen not to believe them too much. After all, how plausible is it that the army is fighting itself and setting their comrades-in-arms up? How can any reasonable fellow believe that the Nigeria Army will collude with Boko Haram insurgents by planning an ambush against fellow soldiers? This was why such stories were disbelieved by critical minds, including me. But lately, things have happened that are beginning to make some of us to shift from our entrenched positions.
We are beginning to think that there may actually be some truth to the stories that there are moles in the Nigeria Army who rat on their colleagues because of some other hidden interests. For sure, I have since believed that some high ranking government officials are profiting from the insurgency by perhaps engaging in arms shipment.
But to think that some of them are actually colluding and conniving with the blood hounds called Boko Haram to decimate the Nigeria Army is something I consider shocking and most callous.
We have in this respect heard stories of how gallant officers who took the fight to the insurgents were either reposted or retired. We are now hearing about how soldiers are sent on missions and while they are on the way, the insurgents, who have earlier been tipped off, will ambush them and wipe them out. That was how a brilliant officer, Mohammed Uba, was abducted in battle by the insurgents and beheaded.
How did that happen? Uba, a Brigadier General, was leading a team sent on a mission to rout the insurgents. On their way, they ran into a well-orchestrated ambush which left some soldiers dead, even though they fought back and also forced the insurgents to beat a retreat. But Uba was isolated from his men in the heat of battle. From his hideout, he communicated headquarters and disclosed his position.
They told him they would send a helicopter to rescue him. But before they could arrive, the insurgents arrived first, interrogated him and then beheaded him. The question has been how they knew where he was. Were they tipped off? Who tipped them off?
Since this happened the Government of Nigeria is yet to speak! I hear the President even travelled out of the country! A whole Brigadier General was killed in such a manner and the Presidency did not seem it appropriate to talk!
I am always watching developments in the developed world. Any small thing that happens which cost a life, the governments will stop everything they are doing and comment about it and most times visit the place.
Be it somebody entering a school or shopping mall and shooting people or soldiers dying in battle, the leaderships of those nations will speak. You can therefore imagine what would have happened or will happen if a soldier as high as an officer is killed over there the way Uba was killed.
I also hear that Uba was fully dedicated to crushing insurgency and perhaps this was why he was marked for death. Nigeria is, indeed, a joke. This is a country which is trying to deny genocidal killing of Christians but yet failing to protect them. Recently a church was attacked in Kwara State by suspected Fulani Jihadidts, who killed three people and abducted a pastor. You can bet that the attackers will never be apprehended, not to talk of prosecuting them. Yet, the Nigerian Government is denying there is genocide against Christians.
Indeed, what many in Nigeria today are praying for is that America intervenes as quickly as possible and put an end to this madness and nonsense.
The Trump factor has been a big surprise indeed, because no one saw it coming. It represents the only way our government will be made to come to its senses. It is indeed what is called a deus ex-machina, Greek words for a last minute intervention that changes or saves the situation. Minus this possible American intervention, you can bet that these terrorists would have been allowed to overrun Nigeria.
I therefore earnestly hope and pray that Trump doesn’t back down. Instead, let him double down!
I will let you read this piece I came upon on social media which provokes thought on what really could be happening behind the scenes in our armed forces and government of the day.
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WHO REALLY SENT GENERAL M. UBA TO HIS DEATH?
…Unmasking the Betrayals behind the Damboa Ambush
In every military tradition, Generals are not thrown into frontline fire.
They are commanders of theatres, planners of operations, custodians of strategy. They do not ride into hotspots without layers of protection, surveillance, air cover, and secure intelligence.
So when a Brigadier General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ends up captured and killed in Damboa, the question is not just what ISWAP did.
The deeper question — the uncomfortable truth we must face — is this:
Who did General M. Uba offend? Who wanted him exposed? Who withdrew the shield that normally surrounds an officer of his rank? Because this was not an accident. This was not random. This was not “operational bad luck.”
This was betrayal.
The Generals Who Make Enemies by Doing the Right Thing
A senior officer who insists on transparency, discipline, and integrity in the North-East naturally steps on the toes of dangerous people.
In that theatre, corruption is not a rumour — it is a full-blown economy. A General who disrupts any of the following becomes a marked man:
Fuel diversion networks; Ammunition theft and resale; Ghost-soldier payroll syndicates; Logistics contracts inflated for profit; Food supply cartels draining funds meant for troops; Local “fixers” brokering quiet deals with insurgents; CJTF elements compromised and selling information; Political middlemen trading influence with commanders
If General Uba was the type who blocked holes, corrected wrongs, challenged deals, or refused to sign off on rotten arrangements, then understand this clearly: he offended people who benefit from Nigeria’s war economy. And those people do not forgive.
Why Was a General at the Front? A Question Nigerians Must Not Ignore
It is not standard procedure. It is not normal practice. It is not common sense. A Brigadier General is a strategic asset, not a frontline scout. So how did he end up moving without full surveillance support? Driving into a zone where ISWAP had prior warning? Without armoured protection? Without air reaction capability? Without a backup convoy staggered behind him? Without a rapid extraction plan?
This is how Generals are “left naked.” This is how sabotage looks.
This is how internal betrayal feels.
When multiple layers of protection fail at the same time, it is never coincidence. It is usually coordination — the silent coordination of people who step aside at just the right moment.
Who Cleared His Movement? Who Gave Him the Intel? Who Last Spoke To Him?
These are the questions no one wants to ask out loud. A General does not simply take off on a whim. Movements of that magnitude require:
Clearance, Briefing, Confirmation, Escort planning, Intelligence layers, Surveillance assessment. Somebody cleared that movement.
Somebody briefed him. Somebody knew his route and timing. Somebody managed the intelligence picture.
If any of those people were compromised — or motivated — then the question becomes almost unavoidable: Was General Uba deliberately exposed? Was he set up by people who needed him out of the way?
The Real Enemies: Not Only in the Forest, But Within the System
ISWAP may have pulled the trigger. But insurgents do not ambush Generals by chance. They ambush Generals when: Someone leaks their route; someone delays their support; someone removes their protection; someone feeds them wrong intelligence; someone ensures they are alone at the critical moment. These are not mistakes. They are decisions.
And decisions have motives.
The motive is simple: He offended people who needed him gone. Those who manipulate contracts. Those who profit from chaos. Those who fear reform. Those who thrive on a prolonged war. Those who supply the enemy at night and salute Nigeria in the morning.
This Is Why His Death Must Not Be Buried Under Silence
General Uba deserved better. Nigeria deserved better. Our troops deserved better leadership protection.
And the world must understand this: Nigeria does not only fight terrorists. Nigeria also fights the people who feed them, protect them, fund them, and betray the uniform from inside.
If we do not confront this truth, more officers will fall — not because insurgents are strong, but because insiders are wicked.
May his sacrifice not be in vain. May his death spark the audit, the investigation, the soul-searching, and the accountability that Nigeria desperately needs.
And may the nation finally acknowledge this painful reality: There are enemies in the forest — and enemies inside the fortress.
Both are deadly.
Only one is trusted enough to hold the door open for the other.
#idowuoborowrites
#NigeriaMilitary
#Veterans
#SecureNigeria
#SayNoToSabotage
#NationalSecurity
#ISWAP
#NorthEastCrisis
#MilitaryReform
#JusticeForGeneralUba
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You have read the brilliant piece, and, as we say here, use your tongue to count your teeth. Nigeria we hail thee! What a country!
