BY By Tarkaa David, Abuja, with agency report
The Nigerian Army yesterday said the voluntary discharge of over 200 soldiers was not due to alleged corruption, poor service conditions and low morale.
The army was reacting to reports that 243 soldiers in the North-East and other theatres had applied for voluntary retirement.
Army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed the development but said it was a routine process.
He described insinuations that soldiers were leaving the military due to poor working conditions as “a concoction of the imagination of the unrepentant enemies of the nation and mischief makers and should be out rightly discountenanced by the public.”
He said: “The subjective and unethical report is a distraction and another failed attempt at dampening the morale and fighting will of the loyal, dedicated and patriotic fighting force of the NA.
“Perhaps these impenitent mischief makers need to be schooled to understand that the NA is not a conscript Army and that recruitment into the NA is voluntary with extant policy on discharge and retirement of soldiers and officers respectively, like other organizations. This provides its personnel the opportunity to apply for voluntary discharge, when they deem fit and meet the terms and conditions as stipulated in the Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service soldiers/ratings/airmen (Revised) 2017.
“It is thus, the inalienable right of a personnel to voluntarily or on medical grounds apply for discharge, if they meet the terms. It is therefore not an aberration that the COAS granted approval for 91 NA/32/4792 WO NDAGANA ISHIAKU and 242 others to voluntarily discharge from the NA, as being unprofessionally manipulated by some media.”
The army said such reports were targeted “at deflating the high morale of troops by downplaying recent critical interventions by the COAS Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya on troops’ welfare, which include car loans, housing loans, extensive construction of new accommodation, massive renovation of old and dilapidated accommodation, building of befitting residences and issuing of vehicles to Regimental Sergeant Majors, scholarship awards to children and wards of fallen heroes and other unique interventions in the theatres of operation to sustain the heightening morale of troops.
The Army had earlier announced the approval of retirement of 243 soldiers with effect from January 15, 2023.
In a memo obtained by LEADERSHIP, the soldiers are to report to Army records on October 15 2022 for documentation.
According to the memo, the approval was based on voluntary disengagement and medical grounds.
