The Nigerian Army has dismissed 203 soldiers after a secret court martial held in the dead of the night, for allegedly disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer.

According to an online journal, Premium Times, one of the sacked soldiers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldiers were dismissed for asking for support equipment, following the army’s plan to convey them in a tipper for an operation in Bama and Gwoza, two strongholds of Boko Haram insurgents.

The soldier, who is originally of the 19th Battalion in Okitipupa in Ondo State, but attached to the 7th division in Maiduguri, said the army detained them for over 90 days before dismissing them after a mid-night trial. He said they are owed up to five months in unpaid salaries.

Narrating the event that led to their dismissal, the soldier said his unit reconvened in Maiduguri last August, after they were dislodged by the insurgents in Damboa in an operation where their commanding officer and several other soldiers were killed.

He said they were given two weeks pass and that at the expiration of their pass, they were issued new uniforms, boots and 30 rounds of bullets each as opposed to the statutory 60 rounds. And were going to be conveyed in a tipper lorry to Gwoza and Bama for an operation.

He said having engaged the insurgents in several past battles, majority of the soldiers argued that the operation would be fierce, and therefore, requested support equipment.

“So we asked for support weapons. No support weapon was provided. Our Commanding Officer, CO, said he would discuss with the General Officer Commanding, GOC, of the 7 Division at the headquarters. When he came back, he said we should stand down. We thought all was well,” our source said.

But the request made by the soldiers fetched them more than they bargained for.

The next day their new CO, Mohammed A, a lieutenant colonel from 195 battalion, Agenebode, ordered them to submit their weapons and uniforms or be charged with mutiny.

“On the morning of 16 of August, after the GOC briefing, our commander started calling our names and he said anyone whose name is called should submit his uniform and weapon. He added that anyone who failed to do that would be charged for mutiny. We were surprised at what was happening.

“He started from the most senior soldier among us, a warrant officer who had served for almost 30 years. They asked us to go back to the barrack. It is a war zone and our weapons had been taken from us. Staying around was of no use, so we left Maiduguri and went back home.”

Source: http://www.withinnigeria.com/2015/01/02/nigerian-army-sacks-203-soldiers-in-the-mid-night-for-disobeying-a-direct-order/

Ok

Nigeria always a country where suprise is been suprised..

and they keep laying of these soldiers.. with unpaid salaries and pensions (not verified) .
and these guys that knows the in and out of our ill equipped military systems would do nothing?

203?
And how many soldiers do we have remaining

[quote author=kilokeys post=29410989]and they keep laying of these soldiers.. with unpaid salaries and pensions.
and these guys that knows the in and out of our ill equipped military systems would do nothing? [/quote

Better to keep quiet on issue you are not sure of.

author=bamosagie post=29412098]

sergeant.. nobody is sure of anything.. we only post and repost based on the info floating around. freedom of expression... its not in my place nt to verify military info. but the influx of sacked men trained to kill into d civilian everyday life is worrying, should it bother me?

kilokeys:


sergeant.. nobody is sure of anything.. we only post and repost based on the info floating around. freedom of expression... its not in my place nt to verify military info. but the influx of sacked men trained to kill into d civilian everyday life is worrying, should it bother me?

It is unfortunate that 203 men were allegedly dismissed, I said allegedly because there was no orderly room trial for the men, they were asked to submit their weapon and uniform and then return back to barrack which to the best of my knowledge is not the way Nigeria Army dismiss her soldiers. choosing to leave the barrack for any other place including their hometown is an offense, its called absent without leave (AWOL), an act of indiscipline born out of cowardice.
The rot in the military has gotten to the point where the authority need to weed out the cancerous elements so that sanity can be restored, The politicians and their paid journalist putting a spin on every action of the authority to make the C-I-C look bad do not know the damage they are doing to the Nigerian state and how she will be perceived at the international stage.
While we post and repost based on floating information, we should also be prepared to applaud when countries like Ghana and Zimbabwe mock us even on our own forum.
we should accept any insult melted on us as Nigerians by the international community because they see us as we present ourselves.

bamosagie:


It is unfortunate that 203 men were allegedly dismissed, I said allegedly because there was no orderly room trial for the men, they were ask to submit their weapon and uniform and then return back to barrack which to the best of my knowledge is not the way Nigeria Army dismiss her soldiers. choosing to leave the barrack for any other place including their hometown is an offense, its called absent without leave (AWOL), an act of indiscipline born out of cowardice.
The rot in the military has gotten to the point where the authority need to weed out the cancerous elements so that sanity can be restored, The politicians and their paid journalist putting a spin on every action of the authority to make the C-I-C look bad do not know the damage they are doing to the Nigerian state and how she will be perceived at the international stage.
While we post and repost based on floating information, we should also be prepared to applaud when countries like Ghana and Zimbabwe mock us even on our own forum.
we should accept any insult melted on us as Nigerians by the international community because they see us as we present ourselves.

there cant be a cleansing if it isn't exposed. before a wound heals it has to be opened up and cleaned properly.
and to those non nigerians mocking us.. its laughable.
thats why we r strong. they cant stand a quater of what we see everyday. they could laugh all they want.

we are way ahead of them now. imagine when we fix our problems, we would be ahead of countries they look up to.