Breaking: Soldiers protest in Borno, engage in shooting spree

Soldiers of the Special Strike Force deployed in Operation Lafiya Dole have protested against their posting to Marte, a Local Government Area in the Northern part of Borno State, Channels Television is reporting.

The soldiers are part of those deployed in the fight against dreaded sect, Boko Haram.

According to Channels Television, the protesting soldiers were reacting to the news of their latest posting on Sunday evening by firing gunshots into the air at the Maiduguri International Airport in the state capital.

One of the soldiers told Channels Television via a phone interview that they were due for rotation, having spent almost four years at the theatre of operations.

He said they reported for duty in February 2015, stressing that a military circular from the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, had clearly stated that no soldier should on any account be kept beyond three years in the North East region of the country.

The soldier lamented that out of the over 300 troops who reported, many of them had died in the last three years as a result of ambush or landmines by the Boko Haram insurgents, while some were killed in battle.

The angry soldiers have blocked all entrances to the airport and have insisted on redress.

However, attempts by top military officers of the Theatre Command to appease the irate soldiers could not yield any positive result.

As at the time of filing this report, the military authorities have yet to react to the incident, while the spokesperson for the Theatre Command, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, could not be reached.