Read what Nigerian Army did to 250 soldiers for missing parade
– The soldiers allege that they were dismissed without any lawful reason
– Lament their unappreciated efforts
– Army headquarters to react to the allegations
Some soldiers numbering about 250 have alleged that they have been unlawfully dismissed by the Nigerian Army.
The soldiers who stormed the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Kaduna to protest their unlawful dismissal, said that had been dismissed since February 1 this year.
Daily Post reports that the soldiers disclosed that they were part of 3,000 others who were dismissed for various offenses in the North-east while fighting the insurgents, but were later reinstated after thorough screening.
Speaking with journalists at the secretariat, the soldiers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were at the NUJ arcade to let the public know their predicament and for President Muhammadu Buhari and the Army authority to come to their aid.
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One of them said: “We are young and ready to serve our country; we are ready to serve the Nigerian Army. We have families to cater for and we want to be pardoned for any offence we may have committed.
“We want the world to know that after we were reinstated in the Nigerian Army, we have received three months intensive training and for us to be dismissed now because we came late at the last parade, it sounds somehow.”
Speaking also was another soldier who said: “I have spent over 20 years in the Army. I have also served in the North-east before we were brought back to Jaji and now you are asking us to go when we have all gone through rigorous training and are determined to serve our fatherland; we are now being asked to leave service for an offence that is pardonable.”
Following reports that they were dismissed for missing out on their last parade, one of them explained that, “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.”
The one Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army has promised that the Army headquarters would issue a statement to explain what actually transpired leading to the soldiers’ dismissal.
While boasting that Boko Haram has been knocked down in Borno and other parts of the northeast, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the only battle ground left is in the Sambisa Forest, the about 80 kilometres swathe of thick bush that is the sect’s stronghold.
The army on Sunday, February 7, said once the battle for Sambisa is over, then Boko Haram will become a thing of the past.
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