In an opinion piece that was published on NAIJ.com on
November 2, 2016, by a man who claimed to be a
Nigerian army soldier had alleged that the Chief of Army
Staff Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusufu Buratai was
‘exploiting’ Nigerian soldiers.

The spokesman of the Nigerian army, Colonel Sani
Kukasheka Usman, as reacted to the allegation via a
Facebook post. The reaction read in part:
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a
deliberate and calculated attempt to drag the name of
the Nigerian Army and indeed the Chief of Army Staff,
Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai into disrepute
through a fabricated news story based on an imaginary
complaint by a fictitious soldier of the Nigerian Army on
an online news medium, naij.com, titled “Buratai
exploits us, steals our money and throw us away-
Nigerian soldiers.”
Colonel SK Usman called the mentioned publication a
blatant lie, continuing:
“It is imperative to unequivocally state that all the
contents of that news piece were far from the truth. The
Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff take pride in
the comfort and general well being of troops wherever
they might be. It is therefore very wicked and
unimaginable for anyone to allege otherwise.
“The Chief of Army Staff since assumption of command
on 15th July 2015 has made probity and accountability
his hallmark and has left no one in doubt on
transparency and accountability and would not tolerate
anyone doing otherwise.

“In their efforts to smear the Nigerian Army and
Lieutenant General Buratai, they failed to take into
account that the Nigerian Army does not have hand in
the release of funds for payment of allowances and
remunerations of troops on Peacekeeping Operations,
and as such, the situation they were talking about does
not even arise.”
Speaking on how payments are made within the
Nigerian army, he said:
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Ministry of Defence
through the Defence Headquarters is responsible for
foreign operations and troops allowances are paid
according to availability of funds and schedule of
payment given by the Defence Headquarters.
“The last one received has been credited into the
respective troops accounts. Therefore, Nigerian Army
troops on various peacekeeping and other operations
have to the best of our knowledge been paid up to date
as released by Ministry of Defence through the Defence
Headquarters.”
In conclusion, he assured Nigerians of the uprightness
of the Nigerian army and its officers, saying:
“We want to assure the general public that the Nigerian
Army will remain focused and never to be distracted
from it’s noble cause of defending and securing the
country from all forms of criminality.”

https://www.naij.com/1033508-nigerian-army-reacts-allegations-buratai.html?source=index_main

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