Investigation conducted by a national daily revealed that the
President's became necessary because of the cold war going on among the
service chiefs, which has affected the counter-insurgency war in the
Northeast against the Boko Haram sect. There were reports that the then
chief of defence staff, Admiral Ibrahim and some of the service chiefs
were having issues. This had led to the then chief of army staff, Lt.
Gen. Ihejirika’s (who had been after his job) scheming against him and
in the process, hijacking the prosecution of the war against terrorism.
According
to a reliable source, when President Jonathan declared a state of
emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the CDS was mandated to preside
over the prosecution. “But since it is the army that constituted most of
the Joint Task Force operation team, the Army Council wanted to be in
charge and this was allowed by the Presidency. The JTF was sacked; the
army chief took over the war and set up the 7 Division of the army in
Maiduguri. Although Ihejirika claimed setting up the 7 Division would
bring the war to an end, it has not.”
Another source said whenever
there was a victory over the insurgents, the army, through the 7
Division claimed the victory and this did not go down well with other
security agencies like the Nigerian Air Force who are also deeply
involved in the operations.
Another security source also disclosed
that Ezeoba, though relatively new on the seat, was removed as a result
of the seemingly endless oil theft in the Niger Delta where he hails
from.
On why the president did not wait for NASS approval of the
new service chiefs as directed by the Federal High Court in Abuja, a
source said that it was due to the sensitivity of security and for
political expediency.
The special adviser on media however said
that Jonathan had briefed the leadership of the National Assembly before
appointing the service chiefs.
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