Soldiers not planning protest over poor welfare, equipment — Nigerian Army

The  Nigerian Army said today, Wednesday June29 that soldiers are not planning any protest over poor welfare or equipment, contrary to social media reports.

The Nigerian Army said in a statement by the Director Army Public Relations Brigadier General, Onyema Nwachukwu in which it refuted the reports saying that the report could have been ignored judging from the ‘unprofessional and irresponsible manner’ the release was made.

The army said it decided to respond because of “the weighty nature of the claims demands some clarification for the sake of well meaning Nigerian”. 

 “It is on record that officers and soldiers of the NA under the leadership of Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, like never before,  have witnessed exceptional positive changes in the moral and physical components of the force”, the army said.

“It is therefore crucial to state in very clear terms, that the NA has never had it so good, given the quantum of combat and logistics equipment that have been injected into the theatres of operations, a circumstance that has evidently turned the tide against  the complex array of threats facing the nation. This is in addition to welfare packages introduced by the current leadership of the NA. More also, aside prompt payment of salaries and operational allowances, welfare flights have been inaugurated, which significantly reduced the burden of troops travelling in and out of the theatres to see their loved ones, it added.

Furthermore, the army said, “This is also in addition to huge commitment on the medical needs of wounded-in-action officers and soldiers and the barracks communities. Scholarships are also being awarded to children of officers and soldiers killed in action in the ongoing operations.

“It is worthy of note, that across all NA Barracks there are deliberate efforts at providing conducive working and living conditions for troops and their families. These interventions in the form of massive barracks construction and renovation works, with visible footprints are bringing succour to NA personnel nationwide. 

“The desperate effort by the authors of this unpatriotic report to give ethnic and religious coloration to the activities of the NA, is nothing but an inglorious attempt to woo unsuspecting members of the public with bigotry bargains, laced heavily with evil intent. It must be made crystal clear that the NA remains a symbol of national unity and therefore cannot afford to be divided along ethnic or religious lines”.