By Kingsley Omonobi ABUJA—Nigerian Army,
yesterday, retired 51 senior
officers, with their
retirement letters
stipulating that they
proceed on terminal leave with effect from December
31, 2012. Vanguard gathered that
many of the officers
protested to the Presidency
and National Assembly over
the retirement, claiming it
did not follow the terms and conditions of service of
the Armed Forces. Affected officers A breakdown of the retired
officers shows that 12
Major-Generals, 24
Brigadier-Generals and 15
Colonels were served
letters. Among those retired is the
former UN Force
Commander in South
Sudan, Major-General Moses
Obi; Commander Infantry
Centre Corps, Jaji, Major- General M. D. Isah, who also
doubled as Cantonment
Commander of Jaji
Cantonment that was
recently breached by
suicide bombers. File Photo: Army Officers However, Army Spokesman,
newly-promoted Major-
General Mobolaji Koleoso,
said the retirement of
General Isa had nothing to
do with the Jaji bomb blast as he was already due to
go. He said the board of inquiry
report on the Jaji incident
was being studied and that
Nigerians will be informed
of the outcome at the
appropriate time. Reacting to the anonymous
text message making
rounds in the public
domain alleging forceful
retirements of some
officers, Koleoso, Director of Army Public Relations,
noted that it was not
common for the Army to
respond to such
insinuations, but noted it
was necessary to exercise the right of response in this
case to put the facts before
the public. We followed rules,
regulations— Army According to him, the
administration of the
Nigerian Army, NA, as in
any organisation, is
governed by rules and
regulations. He said the 51 officers
retired had been notified
earlier in the year of their
retirement, adding that
most of them had
voluntarily written regarding same. Subsequently, the Army
Council approved their
retirement from service
having attained the
mandatory age ceiling for
each rank. He said retirement from
any noble profession,
especially the Army, was
considered a noble exit,
which every officer hoped
and prayed for. “To turn around to give
such a milestone exercise a
negative flavour is, to say
the least, mischievous,” he
said. Among those who put in
paper for voluntary
retirement is Major-General
Olayinka Akinyemi, Chief of
Policy and Plans, Army
Headquarters. He added that the present leadership
will continue to uphold its
core values. He said in line with the
Chief of Army Staff, COAS’s
vision of transforming the
NA into a force better able
to meet contemporary
challenges and President Jonathan’s transformation
agenda, the NA will
continue to abide by extant
rules and regulations. Koleoso said: “The NA uses
this medium to advise
anybody aggrieved over the
decisions of the Army
Council to take advantage
of the relevant provisions in the Harmonised Terms
and Condition of Services
Officers, 2012 (Revised) to
appeal to the C-in-C
through the Chief of
Defence Staff and stop banking on ethnic and
religious sentiments to
pursue personal ambitions. “Also, Nigerian Army under
the leadership of Lt.-Gen. O.
Ihejirika, is a united,
cohesive and focused
institution and will remain
steadfast in the discharge of its national
responsibilities, especially
in its present fight against
terrorism.” On terrorists attacks Speaking on terrorist
attacks, the Army
Spokesman said terrorists
wanted to create problems
by attacking churches and
killing Christians, adding that if Christians had not
held back, it would have
ignited a religious war,
which no country ever
survived. He said there had been
cordon and search
operations everywhere in
the north and the south. According to him, it is why
Nigerians have had a
peaceful Christmas and will
equally have a peaceful
New Year. General Koleoso added that
though the cordon and
search and roadblocks
were not intended to
harass or intimidate
civilians, the measure put in place had recorded a lot
of successes. He urged Nigerians to be
patient as the measures
might cause some delays,
but that it was for the
safety of all.

gud news

c.

People don't spent eternity in military service. If you are due for retirement, you will be shown the way out. It appears people are making an issue out of this.