Army sends back pardoned soldiers to fight B’Haram

Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai
The Nigerian Army has deployed 3,032 pardoned soldiers in the
North-East to fight Boko Haram insurgents.
The affected soldiers had been summarily dismissed from the
military in 2014 over offences allegedly committed as part of the
troops involved in counter insurgency operations in the North-
East.
The soldiers were dismissed by their unit commanders at the
peak of the Boko Haram attacks in the North-East in 2014.
Many soldiers had at the peak of the battle against Boko Haram
last year allegedly disobeyed their commanders and reportedly
declined confronting the insurgents with inadequate weapons.
The 3,032 soldiers were among 5,000 dismissed soldiers whose
cases were reviewed by a military panel led by the General
Officer Commanding, 1 Division, Maj. Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade.
The panel had been set up by the army authorities to revisit the
cases of the soldiers in August 2015.
The PUNCH learnt on Thursday that the soldiers had been sent to
the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, following the
completion of a two-week reorientation training programme
organised for them at the Nigerian Army Training Centre,
Kontagora, Niger State.
It was learnt that the soldiers were deployed last week to
strengthen the ongoing fight against the Boko Haram
insurgents.
A military source said that the soldiers were moved to the
headquarters of the 7 Division, Maiduguri, for deployment in the
North East.
The source said, “The Army authorities have re-launched the
3032 soldiers who were granted pardon by the review panel into
the mission area.
“The soldiers were moved to the 7 Division Headquarters where
they are expected to be deployed in various locations in the
conflict area.
“You know that they were moved to the Nigerian Army Training
Centre, Kontagora, for a two week training programme for their
readmission into the service.
“They completed the course and have been deployed in the
North-East sometime last week to add more value to the
operation.”
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman,
had said during a briefing on September 3, 2015 that the recalled
soldiers had indicated their readiness to return to the operational
area.
He said that the training programme was designed to reorient
them and prepare them for the last phase of the ongoing
campaign against the insurgents in the North East.
Usman had said, “The committee has concluded its sitting last
week and has made certain recommendations that led to the
reinstatement of 3,032 soldiers into the Nigerian Army out of the
5,000 cases that were reviewed.
“The reinstated soldiers have shown total readiness to be re-
launched into the theatre to combat insurgency and have now
commenced a retraining exercise at the Nigerian Army Training
Centre, Kontagora, Niger State.
“This training is to reorient the affected soldiers and prepare
them for this closing stage of the operational aspect of the
counter insurgency operations with more weapons and new
leadership.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Social Communication, Catholic
Archdiocese of Lagos, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, has applauded the
decision of the Nigerian military to recall the 3,032 soldiers
dismissed by the previous military authorities.
Osu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on
Thursday in Lagos.
He described the decision by the military to recall the dismissed
soldiers as a morale booster that would encourage troops
fighting the insurgents in the northeastern part of the country to
do their best.
The cleric said, “We thank God. At least, they have allowed
reason to go beyond military style because these guys would
have just faced firing squad for nothing.
“If you don’t equip your soldiers, you don’t train them well, you
don’t pay them well, don’t expect anything different from
whatever has happened.
“This is a very big morale booster; the morale booster is there
for them to carry out the presidential task.
“You will see that with backing and with the arms, the soldiers
will fight well and they will do their best to crush the insurgents.”
Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital
content on this website, may not be reproduced, published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior
express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments......

Popular posts from this blog

Nigeria gets Africa's first football pitch lit by players

Lagos (AFP) - Africa's first football pitch lit solely by the players' movements has been inaugurated in Lagos, the economic hub of power-starved Nigeria, at a ceremony attended by US-Senegalese rapper Akon. The technology, invented by a young British engineer, consists of placing electronic tiles under the artificial turf, which is converted into power by kinetic energy. Also read: 78 persons regain freedom from prisons in Nasarawa State. Each time a player steps on a tile, seven watts of electricity are generated and sent to a battery. The stored power helps to feed six powerful but low consumption LED floodlights that shine on the pitch. Solar panels around the pitch complement the technology, stocking electricity throughout the day. The system has already been installed at a football pitch in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, in football-mad Brazil, which hosted the 2014 World Cup. "It's brilliant," said Kusagba Oluwadamilola, an 18-year-old spor
Read more..

I work for Lagos policeman, says suspected robber April 11, 2016

 Afeez Hanafi A 21-year-old suspected robber, Akeem Popoola, says a police inspector attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, uses him to swindle unsuspecting victims. He said he had worked for the policeman, identified as Inspector Festus, aka Ijaya, for about four months before he was arrested. The carpenter, who is currently in custody at the Agbado divison, Ogun State, was arrested for robbery and burglary. A mattress and speakers of a sound system were reportedly recovered from him in the Giwa area of Agbado on April 6. He told PUNCH Metro that apart from burglary, he used to collect phones from the inspector and he would later sell them. He added that Ijaya and two others – Abbey and Aluko – would get the buyers arrested minutes later for buying stolen items. Akeem said their victims paid Ijaya between N120,000 and N150,000 before they were released, adding that he got N5,000 as his share on each ‘deal’. “In November 20
Read more..

Police arrest Lagos prince, others during cult initiation

Image
The suspects The Anti-Robbery Squad of the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, Lagos, has arrested a Lagos prince, Wale Jimoh, and seven others. The police said the suspects were arrested during initiation rites of the Eiye Confraternity in the Jakande Roundabout, Small Kuramo, Lekki. Jimoh’s father is said to be the traditional ruler of a community in the area. Other suspected members of the confraternity group include; Frank Mafiana (32), Robert Williams (34), Koko Etim (25), Ibrahim Ogunkoya (21), Stephen Anoh (27), Adekunle Mayegun (25), and Moris Gordian (27). PUNCH Metro learnt that the men had organised a party at a bar owned by their gang leader, Mafiana, and decided to use the occasion to initiate Ogunkoya. It was gathered that it was at the last stage of the initiation that security operatives, acting on a tip-off, struck. A police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspects were “caught in the act.” He said, “When we go
Read more..