Source: Leadership.ng
Over 227 members of the Nigerian Army who were allegedly dismissed by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Armoured Division Jos, Plateau State yesterday protested their unlawful dismissal by the GOC.
The protesting soldiers also appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief of Army Staff to intervene in the matter with a view to reinstating them.
The aggrieved soldiers who stormed the Plateau State Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat with placards bearing different messages, among them, “how can we fight without weapons and we need justice in Nigerian Army,” said they were unjustly dismissed without any known offence and without the benefit of fair hearing.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered from some of the protesters that their alleged refusal to fight Boko Haram insurgents when the sect members invaded Mubi, a commercial town in Adamawa State in October 2014, was the reason the army authorities gave for their sack.
According to the leader of the protesting soldiers, Sergeant Abiona Elisha, “we were dismissed this week Tuesday from the service of the Nigerian Army after sending us to go and suffer fighting insurgency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. All of a sudden, we were recalled to the barracks and made to face trial. Even at the trial, we were not given the chance to defend ourselves. They just took a decision and dismissed us.
“We were not even told what our offences were during the so-called trial. We are surprised that we can be treated like this in our own country. We were sent to fight insurgents without weapons; a lot of our colleagues were killed in the course of defending our father land.”
Speaking further, Abiona noted that, “even those who are in hospital treating injuries they sustained from the battle field were also dismissed while still on hospital admission. The worst situation is that families of our colleagues killed in Adamawa and Yobe are languishing in hunger as the Nigerian Army refused to pay their entitlements.”
The soldiers further alleged that their families as well as personal property were thrown out of the barracks before they arrived in Jos from their operational base in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
However, when contacted, the deputy director, army public relation of the 3 Armoured Division, Col Texas Chukwu denied knowledge of the dismissal of the soldiers.
He said, “I have no knowledge of the issue, I just came back from Maiduguri, I am not aware if any soldier was dismissed.”
Similarly, the Nigerian Army headquarters also denied that there was a protest by any soldier, saying it had not been notified of any such development by its appropriate personnel in Jos.
In a telephone conversation last night with the director of army public relations, Brigadier General Olajide Laleye, he said he was yet to be briefed by his officers in the Plateau State capital over such protests. He however promised to find out what happened and get back to our reporter, which he didn’t do at the time of going to press.
West African Leaders Join Forces Against Boko Haram
West African leaders are considering creating a military force to fight Boko Haram Islamist militants and will hold a regional summit next week to discuss the issue.
According to a report by Reuters, Ghana’s President John Mahama who doubles as ECOWAS Chairman disclosed this at a news conference yesterday. He said to achieve this, ECOWAS will seek the support of the African Union (AU).
“Nigeria is taking military action and Cameroon is fighting Boko Haram but I think we are increasingly getting to the point where probably a regional or a multinational force is coming into consideration. It is what we want to discuss at the AU because if that must happen, there must be a mandate to allow such a force to operate,” he said.
Boko Haram militants have killed thousands of people in Nigeria in the last year as part of a campaign to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria. The group has also launched cross-border attacks into neighboring Cameroon and Niger.
The group’s fighters seized the military base and town of Baga, in Nigeria on the shores of Lake Chad, on Jan. 3. Baga was the headquarters of a multinational force with troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
Meanwhile, UN Special Representative for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has said that the four African nations most threatened by Nigerian Islamist group, Boko Haram, must put aside mutual distrust and agree on a command structure and strategy for a fledgling regional force if they want to defeat the militants.
He said the international community could only help Nigeria and neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon once they clearly lay out the assets they lack to fight Boko Haram.
“It is clear now that … the countries should not be left to tackle it individually. That has been the approach so far and it is not winning the fight,” Chambas told Reuters.
He said it was up to the four states bordering Lake Chad to draw up better coordinated plans. He called for a clearer command structure and rules of engagement, amid resistance from some countries to see their troops deploy outside their borders under foreign command.
“They have not been able to agree to the idea of joint operations and right of hot pursuit, which is very, very crucial in fighting a movement like Boko Haram which can engage in battle in one country and then run into another,” he said.
Chambas said defence and foreign ministers due to meet in Niger on Tuesday will have to agree on tough issues such as the ground rules and leadership of the regional military response.
“The challenge is to have the political will to agree and come to an understanding,” he said.
Foreign powers stepped up their support for Nigeria following the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok last year. However, Abuja has complained US authorities have not shared enough intelligence and been reluctant to sell weapons needed.
France has offered to help structure the taskforce after promises by regional leaders last May to share intelligence and work together were undermined by the lack of trust. Chad on Wednesday offered to help Cameroon fight Boko Haram, days after it appealed for international help.
Chambas said outside help would be needed for some specific capabilities but the priority was for regional armies to identify what they could put
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