•Nigerians who want to fight Russian soldiers should start with Boko Haram –Ex-DIG Adeoye
A former Nigerian soldier, Monday Adikwu says he is offering to fight for the Ukrainian Army against Russia because it is an opportunity to provide better for his family .
Adikwu, a father of six children said he is willing to ply his trade in Ukraine because he needed money to take care of his family.
“I want to go to Ukraine because I am a military man. I fought in Liberia. I fought in Sierra Leone. I was part of the 33 Battalion. I was trained by Ukrainian soldiers when I was in the United Nations in Kosovo on know how to shoot and drive APC tanks. I can drive it very well.
“So, when I heard about Ukraine and the way people are trooping in. I don’t have anything. I am a fighter. They said they will pay us so I am ready to fight so that I can get paid and take care of my family. I will also bring glory to the name of Nigeria as a worthy ambassador.”
According to him, he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army for leaving his duty post to visit his pregnant wife without permission.
Adikwu said he is a soldier, and is never afraid of war or the Russians.
“I am not scared. It was David that killed Goliath with only a tool. So, I believe my going to Ukraine will give them [Ukranainians] victory.”
His colleague, Commando, described himself as a good land fighter while he was in the Nigerian Army and had fought in several war zones like Sudan and Pakistan.
“I want to go to Ukraine because my country does not value my skill and capacity. The Nigerian government does not have use for me any longer. “
Similarly, Nkem Ndueche, a native of Anambra State, said he was at the Ukrainian embassy to pick up the volunteer form.
Ndueche said he was fluent in Russian having attended a Russian military academy in 2007 and was willing to fight on the side of Ukraine.
Ndueche said he was ready to leave Nigeria immediately if given a visa to fight in Ukraine. Asked whether he had sought the opinion of his wife, he said his wife would not approve of his decision but he was willing to travel nonetheless for the sake of honour.
Start with Boko Haram
Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Adedayo Adeoye (retd.), has said that dismissed soldiers who have expressed readiness to fight invading Russian soldiers in Ukraine should be deployed in Borno, Yobe and other states in North-East Nigeria to combat terrorists.
Adeoye stated this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Friday.
He said the Nigerian Government should be proactive to motivate and re-absorb the dismissed military men to boost the insurgency war against Boko Haram and other terror groups in the North-East.
Adeoye said the planned mission of the Nigerian fighters to Ukraine was suicidal as they neither understand the Kyiv terrain nor the art of warfare in Europe.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that scores of Nigerian ex-military personnel converged on the premises of the Embassy of Ukraine in Abuja on Thursday to express their readiness to join the Ukrainian side again the invading Russian forces.
The Ukrainian Embassy had told the Nigerian fighters who are willing to travel to Ukraine to fight Russian forces to provide $1,000 for ticket and visa, promising that they would be paid the price that Ukrainian soldiers are paid.
The announcement came as the Russia-Ukraine conflict split into its second week amid shrinking military forces and casualty toll in Ukraine even as attempts to reach a truce and cease the destruction of the war-wracked European nation have been unsuccessful between adamant Vladimir Putin and defiant Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Hundreds of soldiers have been reported to have paid the supreme price from both warring sides since the war started while over one million persons have been displaced in Ukraine.
‘FG should motivate ex-military men to fight Boko Haram, ISWAP’
Speaking with The PUNCH on Friday, the retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Adeoye), said the ex-servicemen planning to fight Russian forces are on a suicide mission.
“What they are trying to do is suicidal. It is like the case of an ant trying to fight an elephant; what do they know about the terrain and Ukraine? They are only interested in the money. I won’t advise anybody to do that,” Adeoye said.
He added, “The Federal Government should motivate these dismissed soldiers and policemen. If they are still interested in the business of securing lives and property, let them go to the North-West and the North-East to fight terrorists and bandits. These are places they even know the terrain well enough.
“The government should encourage them to fight Nigeria’s insurgency war rather than travelling to Ukraine to face Russian soldiers.
“Generally, the government should call all the retired and dismissed soldiers who still want to come back to the Army to fight the insurgency war in the North-East and the North-West. Government should motivate them; give them good salaries, put them under insurance cover so that if anything happens to them, their families have things to fall back on.”
Credit | Punch