Colonel Sakaba’s death: Between the Nigerian army and the bereaved widow

After almost three years since the demise of Colonel Ibrahim Sakaba, his wife Oluwaseun, is still mourning her late husband.

Her emotions were evident in a recent post on social media, triggered by news that the Nigerian government has forgiven over 1000 Boko Haram terrorists who now claimed they have turned a new leaf, begging Nigerians to forgive them, ready to abandon the many years in the forest, promising not to continue the gruesome killings of thousands of civilians and military personnel, and adding that they will now be responsible citizens.

Oluwaseun was not having any of that unbelievable story, because to her, it is personal. She has felt the pain of not only her husband’s death but the struggle in raising the child left behind all alone. She was provoked, especially when the Nigerian army announced the surrendering of the terrorists with pictures of placards held by the new converts carrying various inscriptions.

She wrote: “It will never be well with all of you; I should forgive them for making me a young widow, I should forgive them for killing my husband, his brother, and his mom. I should forgive them for making me seek shelter in another country. I should forgive them for making many women widows and kids fatherless.

“I should forgive them after you refused to pay my late husband’s dues! I should forgive them for all the atrocities done to my family. You shot my husband dead in his office, you pretended to be a friendly force just because he refused to be part of your plots…time for dragging now.”

I suppose when Oluwaseun saw those images, she would flashback to her darling husband, the words he had told her, the promises they made to each other, the future ahead of them, which all ended suddenly with the sad news of the death of her better half. But now, those who are responsible for her personal agony have surrendered and will be rehabilitated back into the community as nothing happened.

I suppose also, that she might have been privy to some classified information about the real cause of her husband’s death, which the public was told that he was killed alongside 117 other soldiers in one single day when the same Boko Haram terrorist stormed their base and carried out the operation.

Though her former Instagram account has been pulled down, I took some time to go through the Insta story on her new account accusing the military of assassinating her husband, Colonel Ibrahim Sakaba, just because he refused to be part of some plots standing on her claim. She also shared stories of other victims in her shoes lamenting the death of their husbands, fathers and breadwinners, and the delay in payment of their benefits by the army.

I thought of how possible and easy it could be to take out the leader of a battalion by his own people while on the battlefield. Though nothing is impossible, I think it is most unlikely.

The Nigerian Army denied her claim, saying Sakaba died a gallant soldier.

“And what is the plot here? That troops were led by their commander for an operational engagement is not a plot, as anyone may want to insinuate. Col. Sakaba was a respected senior officer who gave his all in the defense of the freedom we all enjoy today. His demise is a great loss to all of us. Insinuating anything contrary is a disservice to our nation and the sacrifices of our troops,” a statement by the director of army public relations, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, said.

For the records, Colonel Sakaba was killed alongside 117 other soldiers on November 18, 2018, after Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Nigerian Army battalion in Metele, Borno state. It was one of the deadliest massacres of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram in the history of the war against insurgency.

Sakaba was a leader at the Nigerian Army 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, where Boko Haram terrorists launched a surprise attack against them at about 6:00 p.m. that Sunday.

According to a Premium Times report, his appointment as the commander of the 157 Task Force Battalion was his second as a lieutenant colonel, and it was characterised by his relentless complaints about poor military hardware and acute shortage of welfare supplies to his men. If he has been complaining to his employers, he certainly must have complained to his wife.

In the past, some Nigerian soldiers deployed in the war-ravaged north-east, and brave enough to speak out, have blamed obsolete equipment and pervasive corruption amongst top military brass for the massive losses in personnel and equipment which insurgents have inflicted on the Nigerian military. Some of these soldiers have been court-martialed and made to face the punitive repercussions for speaking out.

The sequential reality of the death of Colonel Sakaba, and the inability to get her late husband’s benefits, could be an interpretation of the assassination she’s talking about.

However, Oluwaseun’s claim is not something that should be discarded. There may be an atom of truth, no matter how small, that should not be waived off all because she is bereaved and grieving the death of a loved one.

It is difficult to forgive someone who killed a husband, his brother and mother, and showing off the supposed killers being immediately embraced back to the society because they have quickly repented, only make ridicule of the ultimate sacrifice Colonel Sakaba and all other junior and senior officers have paid.

The Nigerian Army must swing into action and pay up all benefits and entitlement the Sakaba family deserves without hesitation. But not just the Sakaba family alone, many widows and fatherless children are out there struggling to survive and suffering life’s difficulties because their entitlement has not been released to them.

If officers are doing their jobs, there is no protocol or procedure, in a digital 21st century that should take more than six months to sort out and pay up entitlements to families of soldiers who have died on the battlefield. It is their right to get paid and on time.

Whether Oluwaseun’s claim was right or wrong, there is no denying the fact that soldiers are dying, weapons used to fight insurgency are obsolete, officers on the battlefield need better welfare package and some top personalities are playing politics with the country’s security.

Ojoko is a Nigerian journalist and can be reached via [email protected]