THE ongoing anti-insurgency operations in the north eastern part of the country may suffer a setback, if the effect of inter-agency rivalry is allowed to blossom, as personnel of Nigeria Police and other security agencies working side-by-side with the military at the theatre of war are threatening to lower commitment.

The grudge of the allied operatives is that, the military, particularly the Army has consistently failed to acknowledge the inputs of the other security agencies in the achievements recorded so far in the fight to restore order in the North East, despite their unbridled support to the campaign to weed out the insurgents from the shores of Nigeria.

A security agent deployed to the North East, who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity said the military always make it look like personnel from the other security services are not involved in the offensive, thence the reluctance to give in their best.

The leadership of the Police had said in September last year that a Deputy Commissioner of Police has been deployed to the Command centre in Maiduguri to lead the Force, while “4,000 operational policemen are working in partnership with the military to end insurgency in the North East.” This is beside the 3,000 police officers deployed as holding force to the liberated areas, tasked to restore civil authority.

For the State Security Service (SSS), it is not clear the number of operatives that are currently deployed there, but an operative of the Service said they were massively deployed from all parts of the country in thousands, to provide the needed intelligence gathering.

The security personnel at the theatre of war also include operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), who are said to have been providing useful information to the military to enhance operations.

It is like they (Army) are the only people involved in the operation, they acknowledge their own, those that die in the course of the war are buried with military honours, while other security personnel killed in action barely get mentioned. It is only the police that have a few names on an honours’ list.

We have discussed this development amongst ourselves and I can reliably tell you that the Army is not being fair to us at all. Colleagues in the sister services are also participating in the Operation Lafiya Dole, others as informants and others as sweepers in the battle, but when the Army spokesman talks about the operation, he would only acknowledge others.

This is not going down well with us, that is why you see that there is little intelligence report going to the Army now about the activities of the insurgents, because the some of the agencies have decided to adjust slightly in risking the lives of their personnel, who are barely recognized. Our reaction may soon take shape, we would not jeopardize the life of anybody but they should recognize our sacrifices as well.”

The claim by these obviously aggrieved operatives according to another officer from the other services is hinged on the series of statements made available to the media by the military, commending the strides of the soldiers without mentioning the contributions and sacrifices from these other services.

What we are not happy about is the continuous reference to what the soldiers are doing, without mentioning that there is some form of assistance coming from other services. This trend have to change, for the operation to be successfully completed,” the source said.

The operation in the North East according to the military is gradually coming to an end, as President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday at the Interdenominational Church Service in Abuja that the insurgents lack the capacity to launch a military style attack on Nigerians, as they have been decapitated and weakened substantially.