243 Nigerian soldiers tender resignation letters

The names of the 243 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in the Northeast and other theatres of operation who applied to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, for voluntary retirement, have been revealed.

The action of the concerned soldiers comes amid worsening security challenges the military is currently combating in most parts of the country.

The soldiers, drawn from various formations of the army across the country, are all junior cadres who are mostly fighting against terrorists and insurgents, SaharaReporters reports.

The Chief of Army Staff has since approved their formal disengagement.

The list of existing soldiers did not distinguish between those embarking on voluntary retirement and those leaving the army on medical grounds.

However, none of them had neither attained retirement age nor the mandatory years of service.

Some of the affected soldiers who spoke to SaharaReporters had cited loss of interest, intimidation by superiors, corruption in the army, and low morale as their reasons for resignation.

The soldiers in a letter to the army chief under Reference NA/COAS/001, quoted the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service soldiers/rating/airmen (Revised) 2017.

The approval of their voluntary disengagement dated August 15 was signed by Colonel S.S. Ahmed and exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters on Thursday.

The Nigerian Army had confirmed SahraReporters’ story on Saturday in a release by its spokesman, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, but denied that the soldiers left as a result of low morale and other factors not conducive to operational efficiency.

Recently, army personnel deployed for counterinsurgency operations in Borno State lamented that those who were to relieve them three months after they were asked to leave the battlefield had yet to resume.

The soldiers complained that they were being forced to confront Boko Haram militants, adding that their low morale and lack of willingness to continue to fight made it possible for terrorists to dislodge some military camps recently.