- Thirty-eight senior army officers dismissed from the army accuse the army leadership of abuse of office
- The petitioners state that many of the dismissed officers were never tied to election duties or procurement office as alleged by the army leadership
- The petitioners appeal to President Buhari to investigation and reinstatement the dismissed officers
Thirty-eight senior army officers alleging that they were wrongful dismissed from the army have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari for redress.
The officers in a petition dated August 22, 2017 and addressed to President Buhari by the law firm of Abdul Muhammed LP, accused the minister of defence, Brig-General Mansur Dan Ali (rtd), Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai of witch-hunting innocent senior officers.
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The officers wrote the petition in respect to their dismissal following the finding of two panels instituted to inquire into allegations of electoral malpractices by Nigerian Army personnel and allegations of corruption associated with arms procurement under the office of National Security Adviser (NSA), This Day reports.
The petitioners stated that following their dismissal, some of the officers wrote letters of redress for the president’s consideration, through the chief of defence staff as provided by the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (Officers) 2012, but that the military authorities deliberately refused to show proof of transmitting the said letters to the president as required by regulations.
The officers contended that they were actually dismissed going by the proper construction of their circumstances as opposed to claims by the military authorities that were they were retired.
The petition read in part:“I must point out that the very public nature of the declaration of compulsory retirement of the 38 officers has undermined the individual reputations of these senior army officers and frustrated their respective efforts as securing a livelihood for their families.
“Additionally, many of these officers have no relationship whatsoever with election duties or procurement office as falsely alleged by army leadership. Most importantly, Your Excellency, none of the 38 senior officers that were compulsorily retired was at any time ever charged or tried by a court martial or found guilty of any offence in line with due process of the armed forces extant rules and regulations, before they respectively heard of their retirement in the media. Interestingly, none of these officers has been informed of the particulars of any alleged offence till date."
The petitioners told the president that 18 of the senior army officers that were dismissed were never invited by the panels set up to investigate allegations of electoral malpractices or corruption associated with arms procurement.
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The aggrieved officers also stated that many of the officers dismissed were never tied to election duties or procurement office as alleged by army leadership.
The petitioners appealed to President Buhari to order an urgent investigation and reinstatement of the dismissed officers, alleging that they were innocent of the charges leveled against them.
According to the officers, one of the 38 retired officers, Lt Col Baba-Ochankpa died of a heart attack while the military leadership deliberately refused to forward his appeal and that of others to the president for consideration one-year after they were wrongfully dismissed.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, August 24, the Nigerian army announced that 68 Boko Haram insurgents surrendered to troops in Borno in the last three weeks.
The deputy director of public relations, theatre command, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said that the military had intensified campaign through coordinated air and land offensive against the insurgents.
Nwachukwu emphasized that sustained operations had brought the insurgents to the brink of defeat thereby forcing many of them to surrender.
Watch the winging ceremony of pilots of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) held at the NAF headquarters in Abuja.