President Buhari sacks top military chiefs as Boko Haram fight escalates

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Photo:AFP

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday, 13th July 2015 sacked his entire military top brass, his spokesman said, in a widely expected move as he tries to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

The spokesman added that their replacements would be announced later on Monday.

"The President has relieved the service chiefs, including the heads of the army, air force and navy of their appointments," Femi Adesina told AFP, adding that replacements would be announced soon.

It comes at a time of heightened activity in Nigeria by Islamist terror group Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has increased the intensity and frequency of its attacks on civilians since President Buhari came to power on May 29 vowing to crush the rebels.

But he been unable to stem the bloodshed from guerrilla-style attacks on "soft" targets.

_{Soldiers and police forces stand guard at a market in N'Djamena following a suicide bomb attack on July 11(BRAHIM ADJI/AFP)}

At least 550 people have been killed since Mr Buhari's inauguration.

On Monday a suicide bomber hit a military checkpoint on the outskirts of the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, in the latest in a string of attacks blamed on Boko Haram Islamists.

The blast happened at about 12.10 pm at the Jimtilo checkpoint, as passengers arriving in Maiduguri were being screened, two civilian vigilantes told AFP.

"There have been casualties but we're still working to confirm the numbers," said Babakura Kolo, who is part of the militia assisting the military against the insurgents.

On Saturday, two people were killed in Maiduguri when two suicide bombers in a motorised rickshaw tried to target a busy bus station but were foiled by heavy security.

Just over an hour later, a man disguised as a woman and wearing a full-face veil blew himself up at a crowded market in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, killing 15 people.

_{People take part in a 'Bring Back Our Girls' campaign march, highlighting the Nigerian schoolgirl girls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 (Olamikan Gbemiga/AP)}

President Buhari on his inauguration described Nigeria's Islamist rebels as a "mindless" and "godless" group that would ultimately be destroyed.

He announced plans to reinforce Maiduguri with a new command and control centre to better coordinate the counter-insurgency effort, a move analysts said signalled his commitment to intensifying the fight.

The move was widely anticipated as former General Buhari has made cracking down on Islamist militant group Boko Haram his number one priority.

The outgoing officials are: Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Kenneth Minimah; the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu, the spokesman said.

In June, Amnesty International accused Nigeria's military of systemic human rights abuses and the deaths of 8,000 prisoners and called for an investigation into many top military officials including the army and air force chiefs.