As a result of economic hardship in Nigeria, families of retired soldiers and fallen heroes in Katsina State, have expressed concern over government’s insensitivity to their plight, declaring they are abandoned to their fates without any form of support.
I gathered reliably that apart from hardships faced, several orphans belonging to the fallen heroes in the state are out of school for lack of sponsors.
The chair lady, Retired Soldiers’ Wives in Katsina State, Aisha Musa, said retired personnel, especially the military are not always recognised for support, stressing that the last time they were given support was during the administration of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who was then governor of Katsina State.
“We want this present administration to assist us because we believe that they will,” she said.
The leader of the Military Widows Association in the state, Hafsat Ya’u Usman, lamented that they were left with children to fend for amid hardship and difficulty. This has provoked them to collaborate with the wives of ex- servicemen and set up a skills acquisition centre where about 200 children and widows are trained in various skills.
“We are calling on state government and well meaning individuals to assist us in providing start-up capital for these children and widows to start something,” she said.
The chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Retired Warrant Officer (WO2) Ahmed Hussain, has also called on government to enroll children of fallen heroes in school of higher learning across the state.
He said, “The children of the deceased ex-servicemen be enrolled at youth craft village centre and other state government institutions of learning. Some of them completed their secondary school, but lack of sponsorship compelled them not to further their education.
“For the ex-servicemen who are retired but not tired, the state government can also use them for any internal security.”
The senior special assistant to the Katsina State governor on Victims of Banditry and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Saidu Ibrahim Danja disclosed that the state government has recently disbursed over N120 million to support the families of late security personnel who lost their lives in active service, paying the supreme price for the nation. He assured of the government’s readiness in rendering more support to families of the fallen heroes and ex-servicemen when the need arises.
