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.”
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