The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) accuses Nigeria's army of failing to protect the Christians and Muslims in the country, stating that it failed to get a grip on the extremist terrorist group Boko Haram and on armed cattle thieves. "Nigeria's army is demoralized, but it tries to suppress any discussion on its shortcomings. However, the civilian population in northern Nigeria has a right to effective protection from Islamist terror," criticized Ulrich Delius, the STP's Director, in Göttingen on Monday. Last weekend, 23 soldiers were killed by armed cattle thieves. Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, who had publicly criticized the army's failures in a video is to be tried before a court martial today. At least 35,000 people have fallen victim to the escalating Boko Haram conflict in northern Nigeria since 2010, and more than two million people of Christian or Muslim faith fled their villages to escape the violence. Hundreds of churches and settlements in the north-east of the country were destroyed.

As early as in 2016, the Nigerian government and the army stated that they had almost won the battle against Boko Haram. "This statement, however, was far from reality. Only last weekend, three farmers were murdered by Boko Haram," Delius reported, emphasizing that the civilian population has lost its trust in the army because it continues to whitewash the situation and to ignore the dramatic situation of the oppressed Christian and Muslim population. "The army's statement that the two million internally displaced persons will be repatriated or permanently settled by May 2021 is just wishful thinking," Delius warned. Attacks by Boko Haram have increased again in 2020, and a timely return of the internally displaced persons is unthinkable.

In a video published in March 2020, Major General Adeniyi complained that the army is not well-equipped enough to fight Boko Haram. He said that many of the armored vehicles are not operational and that the terrorist group is often better armed than the regular army. As the video attracted a lot of public attention, the military authorities did not take action against the Major General at first. Now that the public excitement has subsided, however, he will now be put on trial before a military court.

Not only the equipment of the army in the fight against Boko Haram is in a bad state, but also its morale: In July 2020, a total number of 356 soldiers had written a letter to the commander-in-chief, asking for their dismissal because they no longer saw a future for themselves in the army, due to its low morale.