Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has said that he was embarrassed that the army did not foresee the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy.
“Nigerian Defence Academy is not a place where we could think that we should fortify to such a level that liberty that is required to be able to emplace the level of leadership learning and skills will be lost,” he said during a programme – RadioNow’s Urgent Conversations – aired on Channels Television on Friday.
“But that, of course, is a lesson we have factored, and it does not in any way dampen the preparedness of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to what it should. And it does not in any way speak to our weakness and our inability to defend the nation”.
The academy was attacked by bandits in August, resulting in the abduction of one officer and the death of two others.
The bandits, who came in a vehicle, were said to have passed through the security gate into the academy, disguised in military uniforms, after which they proceeded to the officers’ quarters.
On arrival, they began shooting sporadically and in the process, killed two officers (a Major and a Squadron Leader), and later on, took another Major away through the nearby bush inside the academy.
The sound of the gunfire, however, alerted the troops of the NDA Quick Response Team, who arrived at the scene, but were unable to rescue the kidnapped officer as the bandits were already gone with the victim