Military replies Jonathan: Dasuki bought scraps, useless, unserviceable weapons

• “You were deceived”

The Military has dismissed claim by the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan that his administration purchased some warships and aircraft from the controversial $2.2b arms money.

Jonathan had absolved his former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki(rtd) of allegations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, that he, Dasuki, misappropriated billions of dollars meant for the procurement of arms.

Speaking in the United Kingdom on Monday, the former President said he did not believe that Dasuki stole the money  because weapons were bought for the military under his government.

But reacting to Jonathan’s claim, some military sources are of the view that the immediate past President may have been “deceived” regarding the type of weapons procured, stressing that most of the weapons procured were “unserviceable and useless.”

The report quoted a source as saying that the Jonathan administration bought three fairly used Alpha Jets for the Nigerian Air Force and two helicopters which were “not worth anything because they were not weaponised and the helicopters were cannibalized.”

According to the source, “The two aircraft are among the four Alpha Jets bought from the United States in 2015 by the immediate past administration to enhance the operational capability of the NAF to combat Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.

“The aircraft, however, before now, could not be deployed in the theatre of operation due to the inherent weapon delivery deficiency, hence its limited use for training purposes.