Army Dismisses Report Of Poor Welfare, Equipment For Troops

Nigerian Army has refuted reports of planned protest by serving officers and soldiers over unpaid allowances, poor working conditions among other demands.

The director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement he issued yesterday, said contrary to the report, officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army had under the leadership of Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, witnessed exceptional positive changes in the moral and physical components of the force like never before.

“It is therefore crucial to state in very clear terms, that the NA has never had it so good, given the quantum of combat and logistics equipment that have been injected into the theatres of operations, a circumstance that has evidently turned the tide against the complex array of threats facing the nation.

“This is in addition to welfare packages introduced by the current leadership of the NA. More also, aside prompt payment of salaries and operational allowances, welfare flights have been inaugurated, which significantly reduced the burden of troops travelling in and out of the theatres to see their loved ones.

This is also in addition to huge commitment on the medical needs of wounded-in-action officers and soldiers and the barracks communities. Scholarships are also being awarded to children of officers and soldiers killed in action in the ongoing operations.”

He said the Nigerian Army had made deliberate efforts at providing conducive working and living conditions for troops and their families across all NA Barracks

“These interventions in the form of massive barracks construction and renovation works, with visible footprints are bringing succour to Nigerian Army personnel nationwide.

“The desperate effort by the authors of this unpatriotic report to give ethnic and religious coloration to the activities of the NA, is nothing but an inglorious attempt to woo unsuspecting members of the public with bigotry bargains, laced heavily with evil intent.

“It must be made crystal clear that the NA remains a symbol of national unity and therefore cannot afford to be divided along ethnic or religious lines.”

The statement restated that the NA under the current leadership had remained resolute in carrying out its constitutional role and would vigorously continue to implement welfare programmes for the benefit of all personnel.

He added that troops deployed in ongoing operational engagements were putting in their best for the nation and should be encouraged, rather than plotting disaffection amongst them.

He therefore urged all personnel to remain steadfast and unswayed by the antics of unpatriotic elements, who for selfish gains want to plunge the nation into chaos.