Army Recalls 2,700 Dismissed Soldiers and Officers after Buhari’s Intervention

Investigations have revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari sanctioned the recall of officers and soldiers who were said to be “unjustly disciplined and dismissed” through various general court martials set up by the immediate past Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah (rtd).

Through the process, an estimated 2,700 soldiers and officers of the Nigerian Army have been recalled.

Military sources told THISDAY that President Buhari, after reviewing most of the cases and the circumstances under which the affected personnel were sanctioned, called for the review of the trial to determine if there were cases of injustice.

According to one the senior officer, the case was brought to the attention of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who on the assumption of office vowed to continue with the disciplinary measures adopted by his predecessor.
However, the source noted that Buratai had a change of heart when the whole picture of the circumstances under which the affected officers and soldiers were court martialled.

It was disclosed that one of the affected commanders was the immediate senior to the new army chief who narrated the plight of the servicemen “who were almost forced to fight without weapons.”

Incensed by the revelations, it was said that Buratai had to first assess the situation and subsequently presented it to President Buhari who wasted no time in approving the need to review all the cases with panel of enquiry set up.

“The commandant who was also affected was not happy about the things that happened...with those boys being dismissed. So when the new man (Buratai) came, having been next to him in hierarchy, he approached him with the situation of those boys. The fact is that the former army leadership was the ones who did not provide the needed weapons to those boys. So how can they come up to claim that the boys were running from Boko Haram.

“Consequently, the new man (army chief) took the case to the president who also felt sad about it and directed that the cases be reviewed so that they can be recalled,” the source explained.

Further enquiries also revealed that not all the affected officers and soldiers have been recalled as many are yet to be informed or respond to the call.

Another military source confirmed that about 2,700 men had been readmitted to the force, while  some others who are still aggrieved with the way they were treated by the military authorities have simply refused to submit themselves to the review panel.

“Right now, we cannot have a cohesive figure because there are those who have either not reported or heard about this latest development. Some of them still feel embittered that after all their sacrifice to the service and the nation they were treated unfairly. We will not tell them sorry but we are also encouraging them to come back. But for now, I think about 2,700 have been recalled,”  the source said.
However, the Nigerian Army has said it was yet to decide on the fate of about 4,000 officers and soldiers who were dismissed through various GCMs during Minimah’s era.

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Sani Usman, in response to THISDAY enquiries yesterday, dismissed reports making the rounds that the army had recalled about 2,500 to 3,000 officers and soldiers.

Usman said what had reported so far have been speculative since the panel of enquiry set up by the army authorities and sanctioned by Buhari was yet to conclude its work.

He said: “People are basing this on speculation because of movement here and there. I don’t know where they got such outrageous figures from.

“You can recall that there is a committee for this and the committe has not finished its work, let alone deciding on what to do. We cannot talk of a line of action to take when the review is still ongoing. It is not conclusive yet. The committee is working and nothing has been done yet.”

The Nigerian army last month said it would be reviewing some of the disciplinary and court martial cases, especially those handled by the immediate past army chief.

Usman made the clarification in response to some reports regarding the recent disciplinary actions by the army.

“The attention of the Nigerian army has been drawn to a correspondence making the rounds in the media regarding an administrative procedure to review some recent disciplinary cases in the Nigerian army.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that the Nigerian Army is reviewing all recent disciplinary cases due to the wave of litigations and petitions by some aggrieved personnel,” Usman said.

According to him, the public should not misconstrue the recent directive to mean total recall of dismissed and deserter soldiers.