A South African mercenary who fought Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria has spoken out on Sunday against President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the Islamist insurgency, blaming “poor political decisions” for an upsurge in the violence.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday, Eeben Barlow criticised Buhari for claiming that Boko Haram is “technically defeated” and said the jihadists are “causing numerous casualties and capturing massive amounts of equipment and ammunition”.
The former South African Defense Force commander said that the Buhari government cut short his contract after his company STTEP – which stands for Specialised Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection – helped reclaim swathes of territory back from Boko Haram at the peak of the nine-year Islamist insurgency in 2015.
