Army will ensure thorough scrutiny of deaths —Buratai

CHIEF of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, on Monday, said the military would thoroughly probe the death of Lieutenant-Colonel  Mohammed Abu Ali in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents last week Thursday.

Buratai, who stated this while reacting before a Senate committee hearing in Abuja, said Ali’s death in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorists in Mallam  Fatori area in northern Borno was an eye opener to the military.

He revealed that one officer and five soldiers and a naval rating got killed in an ambush at the Mallam Fatori area.

According to him, some responses and comments of some highly-placed individuals in the country were constituting danger to national security.

“I want to tell you that the fight against Boko Haram insurgents is a matter of concern to everyone and what we are going to witness today (Monday) at the burial ceremony should be an eye-opener.

“Although we have several cases of soldiers’death in battle field in the past, at this point in time, it calls for proper scrutiny because of the responses by individuals and, indeed, organisations to national defence and security issues.

“We must take the issue of defence and security very seriously so that, collectively, we would fight these insurgents to its final conclusion,” he said.

Buratai said as a result of the controversy over the location of the military in the Maitama extension axis of Abuja, the military would soon relocate to  more convenient places.

“We need to relocate the headquarters of the current military office. The current location is not so convenient for us,” he said.