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More than two weeks after his troops rose against him on May 14, erstwhile General Officer Commanding, GOC, 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Borno State, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Mohammed, has reportedly gone missing.

The embattled army commander had incurred the wrath of soldiers under his command for allegedly issuing wrong orders, which they claimed resulted in the deaths of their comrades in Boko Haram ambush while on patrol in a volatile part of the state.

“The soldiers had fired gunshots at the former GOC, who was immediately replaced by Brig.-Gen. Mahmid Yakubu Ibrahim in acting capacity. Since then, the former GOC, who was said to have been moved to Army Headquarters in Abuja, was said not to have been seen around or performing any duty,” reports National Mirror.

The paper quotes a source at the Army Headquarters, Abuja, as disclosing that since his removal as GOC after the mutiny, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Mohammed has not been sighted in any formation or being functional in military duties, even when he was not said to be under suspension due to the on-going probe of the mutiny by army authorities.

“Sources at the AHQ alleged that he was actually being kept away from public glare by the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, to calm the tension caused by that mutiny and also to save the face of the general,” says Mirror.

It quotes Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Brig.-Gen. Olajide Laleye, as saying that he did not know where Maj.-Gen. Mohammed was presently.

According to the army spokesman, “The general has been redeployed, that’s all. I don’t know where he is, whether he is in Lagos or Abuja, I don’t know where he is. There is nothing wrong with the general, so he is not missing. “He has no command, it has not come out, when it comes out all of you will know.”

•Photo shows Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah.

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