A man identified as Ikechukwu took to Facebook to share the story of a
soldier fighting Boko Haram who died in accident. According to him,the
deceased has been pivotal in the battle against Boko Haram since 2015.He
wrote….
‘Our grief: Capt Jonathan Polit (1973-2018)
All
the times I have visited Jos in the past have been on occasions of joy
and celebration. If not a wedding, then my wife and I simply went for
‘yawo’ or ‘flenjor’ or we went to ‘jollof’.
But yesterday, we
entered Jos with tears. My wife is a naturally happpy person (her
exuberant happiness even sometimes irritates me cos I will be like ‘why
is this one just happying upandan’) and seeing her in tears simply tore
me up. I wept from grief and wept because of everything.
We lost
Capt. Jonathan Polit, gallant infantry officer of the Nigeria Army, war
veteran, terror of terrorists. And my wife’s elder brother. He died in a
motor accident close to his home in Jos.
I can’t describe how
we felt when the news came on Thursday. Shock is an understatement.
Disbelief doesn’t describe it. Grief is a mild word. We were totally
devastated.
Capt Jonathan Polit (everyone called him Jona) served
as a peacekeeper in Sudan and on return, was drafted to the theatre of
war in the North East. For three years he served Nigeria fighting Boko
Haram, was wounded, recovered and returned to the battlefront. He was
one of those crack infantry units who retook Baga and Konduga from Boko
Haram in very heavy fighting in the 6wks of election postponement in
2015.
He was later rotated out of Lafiya Dole to the Nigeria Army School of Infantry, Jaji where he served till his death.
When
he was wounded around 2016 or so and came to Abuja with a POP cast on
his leg, he visited often and we gisted extensively. I saw some video
clips and pictures of the battlefield and got real firsthand info on
conditions there, information which of course I can’t let out but which
helped shape my mindset about the gallantry of the fighting men of the
Nigeria Army. Those guys are heroes, I tell you. If you have an idea
what they face…
Now we have lost a hero but God knows best. My
father-in-law, a retired war veteran himself who served many years in
ECOMOG in Liberia and Sierra Leone, seems solid in his conviction that
God gave him Jona and God has taken him. He has even been consolatory
towards us younger ones who have been weeping uncontrollably.
It’s
really sad but I thank God that a certain prophecy came a few weeks
before his demise which served to put him on the righteous path. I thank
God that though death thought it struck us a blow, we are consoled that
Jona is with God.
Rest in peace, bros! Rest in perfect peace. We will meet yonder at God’s feet. Goodnight!
(Pic: as a 2nd Lieutenant)’
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