The House of Representatives, has mandated its committee on army to investigate the alleged voluntary resignation of 365 soldiers involved in the ongoing fight against insurgency in the north east.
This came following the adoption of a motion under matters of urgent public importance on Tuesday, jointly sponsored by Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, Deputy Whip, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, and Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, expressing concerns that the influx of such able-bodied soldiers back into the society without job security may pose a serious security threat, as well as “an impending military mutiny that may imperil our democracy”.
The lawmakers who therefore called for urgent moves towards addressing the impending dangers, in the motion recalled that on the 22nd of June 2020, a lance corporal in the Nigerian army named MARTIN IDAKPEIN made an online video wherein he condemned the lackadaisical attitude of the chief of army staff toward the attacks and killings of innocent Nigerians and soldiers as well as the untold hardship they face while conducting combat operations.
Monguno who moved the motion on his colleagues’ behalf said, “On several occasions, the Nigerian soldiers have disobeyed orders from superior officers in protest of poor welfare arrangements and alleged embezzlement of allowances due them by their superiors. There have been cases of mutiny resulting in sporadic shooting and attempted lynching of senior officers.”
He said recently, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, Commander of Operation Lfiya Dole, Nigeria‘s counter terrorism headquarters was removed for complaining about inferior military wares and poor equipment of troops while briefing the chief of army staff from combat zone, after successfully repelling an attack from Boko haram insurgents.
“Not too long ago the general officer commanding 7 divisions of the Nigeria army in Maimalari, Major General Victor Ezegwu escaped being lynched by rampaging soldiers for leaving them with neither food nor water while fighting”, he noted further.
The lawmakers expressed worries that military sources have attributed the recent massive resignations to loss of morale, unimproved allowances, mass casualties in the hands of Boko Haram terrorists, due to lack of intelligence apparatus and fighting equipment as well as poor welfare packages for them and their families by the army authorities.
The committee on the army has been directed to investigate these allegations and report back in one week.
