Ndudi Anyim
The Nigeria Army has said reports that soldiers of an unidentified Battalion in Operation LAFIYA DOLE had protested over unpaid allowances as well as obsolete equipment, is unsubstantiated and not the truth.
Speaking for the Army, the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Mohammed Yerima, said findings into the said reports, by Theatre Commander, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Maj. -Gen. Farouq Yahaya, revealed that what some media reports described as protest was a mild complaints by few soldiers of Mobile Strike Team (MST), deployed for Exercise TURA TAKAIBANGO in the frontline of Operation.
A statement signed by Yerima read: “ Our attention has been drawn to an unsubstantiated reports going round on the mainstream media that Soldiers of an unidentified Battalion in Operation LAFIYA DOLE have protested their posting to a location in the Theatre of Operation.
“ The reports also claimed that the aggrieved soldiers, besieged the Headquarters of the Theatre Command in Borno State, shooting sporadically into the air on Thursday to protests over alleged unpaid operational allowances as well as obsoleted equipment.
“ For the records, The Headquarters Theatre Command Operation LAFIYA DOLE wishes to state that the claims were unsubstantiated, did not represent the true situation of the incidents.
“ Preliminary investigations by Theatre Commander, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Maj. -Gen. Farouq Yahaya, revealed that what some media reports described as protest was a mild complaints by few soldiers of Mobile Strike Team (MST), deployed for Exercise TURA TAKAIBANGO in the frontline of operations.
“ At about 3p.m. on March 25, some of the troops of Mobile Strike Team 10 and 11 who were primed to conduct phase 2 of Exercise TURA TAKAIBANGO in Bama after the first phase of the exercise, raised some concerns which was quickly addressed before they were relaunched to the second phase of the Operations.”
He added that on the issue of ‘obsolete weapons’ as reported in some media, the position of Army Headquarters was that soldiers have right to demand for proper weapons to prosecute operations.
“ However, the Federal Government was making concerted efforts toward deploying new fighting equipment to augment the existing ones in the Theartre of Operation.
“ The Army wishes to also deny report that any soldier was owned any operational allowances. No soldier was owned any allowance in the Theartre.
“ We shall continue to remain focused and determined to perform our constitutional roles and responsibilities professionally in the protection of the sovereignty of our Nation and ensuring the safety of lives and property while we clear the terrorists, their cohorts and collaborators in the country, ” Yerima said.