Some soldiers fighting Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East have rejected the alleged approval by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai for the promotion of soldiers who unraveled the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and subsequent death of the former Chief of Administration of the Army, Major General Idris Alkali (retd).
They said on Sunday they were dissatisfied that despite what they had suffered in fighting the war, they were not being recognised.
They described the army chief directive in favour of the soldiers sent to Jos for the special task as an insult to them, when they had been in the bush for years without recognition by their superiors.
Some of the soldiers in the North-East, who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, said, “The Chief of Army Staff promoted soldiers that went for the search operation of the body of Major General Alkali in Jos but neglected the soldiers in the North-East, whose lives are in danger and dying every day.
“This is unfair and it will further demoralise us. What death or danger have the soldiers sent to Jos faced, what threat to the nation have they warded off?
“We are daily being killed by insurgents who have only one mission to disintegrate this nation and to wreak havoc on its citizenry. What have been our rewards?
They added, “Many of us have not seen our wives and children for years. Some of us, our family members are not sure we are still alive and the COAS with what he has just done, just showed that we are not worthy of anything.”
Some of the soldiers, who were apparently aggrieved, asked the Federal Government to come to their aid, alleging that they were being used by “greedy officers to make money.”
They also complained about the lack of modern weapons to fight the war.
They said, “The T72 tank was made in 1983 by Slovakia. You can’t fire more than two rounds with it before it will hang. Majority of us are graduates, so we know what is going on. All the arms given to us are outdated.”
Source: Punch