One of the sacked soldiers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
they 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.
He said they are owed up to five months in unpaid salaries.
Narrating the
event that led to their dismissal, the soldier 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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