Daniel Bwala, a former presidential campaign spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to dismiss the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, and the incumbent Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

This call comes after a failed offensive operation that targeted a gathering of terrorist kingpins in a meeting.

The botched plan resulted in the seizure of armed trucks by terrorism kingpin Bello Turji. A video that emerged showed the bandits celebrating "victory" over the Nigerian military after burning down the Mines Resistant Armour Personnel (MRAP) vehicles that were stuck in the mud.

“Bello Turji has seized two trucks. Nigerian Army Bello Turji is coming for you, Insha Allah, if you don’t allow peace to reign. We are telling you and your clerics that we are with Allah”, Mr Turji says as he moves towards the stuck vehicles.

Reacting, Bwala lamented the purported "lack of cooperation between the Air Force and army".

He wrote on X: "If this perceived lack of cooperation between the air force and army continues, where we see schoolboy errors resulting in ragtag bandits taking our armored vehicles and munitions, then both ministers of defense may need to be shown the door out. No sentiments."

A security source told PREMIUM TIMES that “the army got an intelligence report that bandits in large numbers, including several camps comprised of Bello Turji, Sani Black, Na Dutsen Kura, Dan Dogo, Nasanda, and Dankarami, were attending a meeting.

“In the process, one of the trucks got stuck, and another also got stuck while trying to remove it,” the source said, asking not to be named for their personal security reason.

If this perceived lack of cooperation between the air force and army continues, where we see schoolboy errors resulting in ragtag bandits taking our armored vehicles and munitions, then both ministers of Defence may need to be shown the door out. No sentiments pic.twitter.com/7MP7JDArLt

— D. H Bwala (@BwalaDaniel) September 1, 2024