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Nigerian Army
Headquarters (Photo: Sunnewsonline.com)
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One of the sacked
soldiers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldiers were dismissed
for asking for support equipment, following the army’s plan to convey them in a
tipper for an operation in Bama and Gwoza, two strongholds of Boko Haram
insurgents.
PREMIUM TIMES reports
the soldier, who is
originally of the 19th Battalion in Okitipupa in Ondo State, but attached to
the 7th division in Maiduguri, said the army detained them for over 90 days
before dismissing them after a midnight trial. He said they are owed up to five
months in unpaid salaries.
The soldier, narrating the event that led to their dismissal, said his
unit reconvened in Maiduguri last August, after they were dislodged by the
insurgents in Damboa in an operation where their commanding officer and several
other soldiers were killed.
He said they were given
two weeks pass and that at the expiration of their pass, they were issued new
uniforms, boots and 30 rounds of bullets each as opposed to the statutory 60
rounds. And were going to be conveyed in a tipper lorry to Gwoza and Bama for
an operation.
He said having engaged
the insurgents in several past battles, majority of the soldiers argued that
the operation would be fierce, and therefore requested support equipment.
“So we asked for support
weapons. No support weapon was provided. Our CO (Commanding Officer) said he
would discuss with the GOC (General Officer Commanding) of the 7 Division at
the headquarters. When he came back, he said we should stand down. We thought
all was well,” our source said.
But the request made by
the soldiers fetched them more than they bargained for.
The next day their new
CO, Mohammed A, a lieutenant colonel from 195 battalion, Agenebode, ordered
them to submit their weapons and uniforms or be charged with mutiny.
“On the morning of 16 of
August, after the GOC briefing, our commander started calling our names and he
said anyone whose name is called should submit their uniform and weapon. He
added that anyone who failed to do that would be charged for mutiny. We were
surprised at what was happening.
“He started from the most
senior soldier among us, a warrant officer who had served for almost 30 years.
They asked us to go back to the barrack. It is a war zone and our weapons had
been taken from us. Staying around was of no use so we left Maiduguri back
home.”
The next order from the
army hierarchy was for the soldiers to report to the 4th Brigade headquarters
in Benin where they were detained for three months.
“They kept us in the
fenced field at the officers’ mess in 4th battalion headquarters. When we first
arrived at Benin they took statements from us and took it to Maiduguri. The
original charge against us was for deserting but after our statements were
taken they changed the charge to disobedient to particular order. They said we
disobeyed the CO’s order. They seized our phones, we couldn’t communicate with
our families for the 90 days we were kept in detention,” our source said.
After they were released
on December 24, they were conveyed to their various units. The soldier said on
getting to their units, a court martial was set up at about 11.30 p.m. where
they were tried and dismissed. He said the next morning, they were evicted from
the barrack with their families.
“It was dismissal without
benefits. After 17 years in service. Even people that served for 30 years were
dismissed without benefits. We had no legal representation.”
Army spokesperson,
Olajide Laleye, a Brigadier General, could not be reached for comments on
Thursday. Calls and messages to his telephone were not answered or returned.
The dismissal of the 203
soldiers followed a wave of court-martialling of other soldiers for mutiny and
other offences.
On December 24, a
military court-martial that sat in Abuja sentenced four soldiers to death by
firing squad for alleged mutiny.
That judgment came just
about a week after another batch of 54 soldiers were condemned to death for
refusing to fight the deadly Boko Haram sect.
The 54 soldiers belonged
to the 111 Special Forces battalion attached to the 7 division of the army in
Maiduguri. They are to die by firing squad, the military court ruled.
The soldiers were accused
of disobeying a direct order from superior officers to take part in an
operation aimed at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from Delwa, Bulabulin and
Damboa in Borno State.
The soldiers said they
refused to take part in the operation because the Army did not provide them
with the required combat and support equipment needed for such operations.
Earlier, in September, 12
soldiers were sentenced to death for allegedly shooting at a car conveying
their commanding officer, Ahmed Mohammed, a Major General.
The attack occurred May
14 at the army’s 7 Division, Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, headed at the
time by Mr. Mohammed.
Others were also
sentenced to life in jail for criminal conspiracy and attempt to commit murder.
The soldiers revolted
after some of their colleagues were ambushed and killed by Boko Haram
extremists, an attack they blamed their commander for.
Yet, more soldiers remain
on trial for their conducts in the fight against the extremist sect, and face
being sentenced to death.
On December 23, another
batch of 118 soldiers were transported from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital,
to face charges in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
It is not clear when the
troops would be arraigned before the military court, but our sources said
unlike their colleagues who were convicted December 17, the 118 soldiers are
accused of offences less than mutiny.
Also, 22 top officers,
including a brigadier general, are being held at the Ikeja Military Cantonment
in Lagos, preparatory to being arraigned for yet unclear offences.
They could not be
arraigned on December 22 because the court was not properly constituted.
Their arraignment has now
been scheduled for a date in January.
The convicted soldiers,
apart from the four that were sentenced December 24, have been moved to Lagos
to await appeal, pardon or execution.
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