For their failure to overrun Sambisa forest, the Nigerian Army at the Rukuba Barracks in Jos, Plateau State, has reportedly dismissed about 200 soldiers from service. The dismissed soldiers were accused of cowardice and laxity in the line of duty.
Agunloye Sunday, an indigene of Ondo State and one of the affected soldiers, confirmed their dismissal to newsmen in Jos, adding that they were tried on a two-count charge of “failure to perform military duty and disobedience to standing order.”
Sunday however vowed that him and his colleagues would challenge the action of the Army in court, as the charges were “untrue, false and malicious.”
According to him, the charge by the Army authorities that they abandoned their duties and ran away was not true, arguing that sufficient weapons were not provided for them to fight the terrorists, therefore, they ran out of weapons. He alleged that the weapons provided for the troops were obsolete.
“The bombs given to us were made in 1964; they were expired, so we could not use them.
“Each of us was given five bullets, not five rounds, to fire. While in the forest, our biggest weapon was to cover just a distance of 400 meters, but our enemy had aircraft weapons that could cover a distance of more than 1,000 metres, aside other dangerous weapons.
“We only retreated to our base and waited in vain for ammunition for three days.”
Reacting, the Nigerian Army denied the figure being reported as incorrect and that no dismissals were pre-planned by the Army High Command.
This was clarified in a statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. S. K. Usman. He said: “On disciplinary action being taken against some soldiers for cowardice and desertion in the face of enemies, especially as regards the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, most of the stories and figure being peddled are far from accurate.
“Disciplinary processes or trials are never done with prior intention to dismiss anyone in the Nigerian Army. The only intention is to dispense justice and even at that, due process is normally followed.”
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