Army Dismissed 290 Soldiers - Femi Falana Confirms
Nigeria's lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana on May 28, Thursday, revealed that the army had dismissed 290 soldiers.
It was previously provided that the military authorities had dismissed about 200 soldiers over cowardice in fight against Boko Haram. However, the army officials denied the figure adding that no dismissals were pre-planned.
Colonel Sani Usman said:
"On disciplinary action being taken against some soldiers for cowardice and desertion in the face of enemies, especially as regards the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, most of the stories and figure being peddled are far from accurate.
"Disciplinary processes or trials are never done with prior intention to dismiss anyone in the Nigerian Army. The only intention is to dispense justice and even at that, due process is normally followed."
According to PM News, on Thursday Falana confirmed the development. Moreover, he lamented that the army authorities had neglected the procedural provisions. He also defended the soldiers saying that the government did not provide the adequate equipment for them to fight with terrorists.
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He concluded that the dismissed soldiers should be therefore immediately recalled.
"I have just confirmed that a total of 290 soldiers were dismissed yesterday by the authorities of the Nigerian Army. The letters of dismissal were distributed in Jos, Plateau State and Ibadan, Oyo State. Before the dismissal, the soldiers were subjected to orderly room trial.
"Even though they pleaded not guilty to the charges of cowardice and failure to fight the Boko Haram sect, the dismissed soldiers were not tried by any court-martial in line with the provisions of the Armed Forces Act."
"Apart from the deliberate refusal of the military authorities to respect the fundamental right of the dismissed soldiers to fair hearing guaranteed by the Constitution, the punishment meted out to them cannot be justified since the Federal Government failed to equip the armed forces at the material time. Indeed, the belated onslaught launched against the satanic Boko Haram sect by the Nigerian Army has been attributed to the military hardware recently acquired by the government.
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"As the soldiers are ill-equipped to handle the weapons the military authorities have admitted that ‘military instructors’ have been engaged from South Africa to train them.
"In the light of the foregoing, the authorities of the Nigerian Army should annul the illegal letters and recall the dismissed soldiers without any delay. In the alternative, a programme should be designed for the rehabilitation of the dismissed soldiers. Otherwise, many of them may be driven to criminality since they had been given military training at the expense of the nation."
One of the dismissed soldiers yesterday complained of the maltreatment he received after having been sacked. He also described the posed allegations as "false" and "malicious".
Source: Legit.ng
