The Nigerian Army has stood by its decision not to reabsorb 250 dismissed soldiers who “absconded” from duty “for more a week” after getting a directive to proceed to the North East where the country is currently waging a war on Boko Haram insurgency.
In a Tuesday statement by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, the Army said the soldiers were dismissed for indiscipline, unprofessional conduct and lack of patriotism.
The statement read: “The attention of the Nigerian Army has also been drawn to a set of 250 protesting dismissed soldiers in Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Kaduna, pleading through the media to be reabsorbed back again into the Nigerian Army.
“They were part of the 2,023 dismissed soldiers last year that were earlier reinstated back into the Service by the present Chief of Army Staff. However these set of soldiers (the 250) absconded for more than one week when they were told that they were to move to North East on the 6th of January 2016.
“They started coming back when they realised that others were moved to units other than the theatre of operations in the North East. Please note that all efforts were made to make all the reinstated soldiers comfortable and integrate them back into the system.
“The protesting soldiers are the few who are recalcitrant to military duties and discipline. They are simply not interested in army job but want to earn salary. No one should listen to them as they are not patriotic at all.”
Usman added that the Army had put up with the soldiers’ act of indiscipline and unprofessional conduct for too long.
He added that it was out of consideration for their circumstances and conditions.
“Efforts have been made to retrain them, integrate and give them sense of belonging. However the attitude of some of them has left so much to be desired and would not be tolerated anymore hence their dismissal from Service,” the statement added.
Recall that soldiers numbering about 250 stormed the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Kaduna to protest what they called their unlawful dismissal, adding that they had been dismissed since February 1 this year.
Some of the soldiers who refused to name themselves because Army rules prohibit them from speaking to the media said they committed offences which were not “unpardonable”.
They complained of being dismissed for failing to attend a parade which they did not know about until it was too late.
One of them told the media: “We have to trek for about 30 minutes before getting to the parade ground because most of the soldiers affected are not mobile and are not living inside the Army barracks.
“Some of us were not even aware of the parade taking place on that day. It was later we were alerted and when we got to the venue, we were ordered to submit our uniforms and other things belonging to the Army.”
Also, the Army through the statement said two of its personnel were caught with some unauthorised military items in Yola, Adamawa State, on Sunday.
“Two of our Explosive Ordinance Device personnel attached to 143 Battalion, 13NA/ 70/10183 Sapper Eric Nwokorie and 13NA/70/10263 Sapper Macauley Fortune were arrested at Yola park with the following unauthorised military items:
“1 Smoke grenade, 2,136 live rounds of 7.62 (Special) ammunition, 50 live rounds of 7.6mm (NATO) ammunition, 5 magazines of AK 47 rifles, 2 Browning Machine Gun live rounds of ammunitions. Others include, 1 Axe, 1 Cutlass, 1 Jack knife, 9 Jungle hats, 11 pairs of Camouflage (9 Desert and 3 woodland green), 4 Military Pullovers, 1 Black beret, 1 Green beret, 1 Pair of number 7 dress, 2 General Duty belt, 12 Army T-shirts, 2 Rain Coats, 2 Water bottles, 1 Pairs of Rain boot and 5 Pairs of Desert boots.
“This unfortunate incident notwithstanding, troops morale remains high as they continue to dominate the general area with aggressive raids, ambushes and patrols to clear the remnants of the terrorists hibernating in the area,” the statement read.