Some soldiers of the Nigerian Army Battalion from Zuru, Kebbi State, who participated in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan in 2013, are grumbling over the delay in the payment of their allowances.
Investigations revealed that the more than 800 soldiers under the Nigerian Army Battalion 40, at the Yallah Super Camp in Sudan, were agitated that their compulsory savings for the period of five months were missing from their respective accounts.
A source, who confided in our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that the soldiers only found a month of their compulsory savings as against the expected six months allowances.
The soldiers were said to be bitter over the development as they claimed that the UN had already paid all their entitlements, even before their departure for the international assignment.
It was stated that the soldiers, who left Sudan for Nigeria, became worried when they were told at the banks that their compulsory savings, from August 2013 to December 2013, were not in their accounts.
The source put the total sum involved in the controversy at N652m.
The source explained that the army authorities devised a strategy to encourage soldiers on peacekeeping missions to save their earnings by releasing N17,000 out of the equivalent of N180,000 due to each of them, while the remaining N163,000 was kept in each soldiers account back home in Nigeria.
It was further stated that the Army authorities made the arrangement in such a way that the soldiers were not allowed access to the accounts as only officers in the Finance section of the army had the pins to the accounts.
“You see, the problem is that these people are owing us five months; we are worried because the money for the allowances was paid by the UN even before we left the country. So, why then is the money not in our accounts?
“When we got to the country and we went to check our accounts, they paid only one month. What happened to the remaining five months?
“We were entitled to N180,000 equivalent of Nigeria’s currency; out of which they gave us one hundred dollars, which is about N17,000.
“The authorities were supposed to keep the rest N163,000 in a compulsory account for us. But when we went to the bank, we realised that they had paid only one month, out of six that were spent there,” the source said.
When our correspondent contacted the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, he said that the money was not missing.
Olukolade, who urged the affected soldiers to be patient, said that the authorities were engrossed in moves to get the funds from the relevant quarters and agencies.
The Defence spokesman said that all the soldiers would be paid their entitlements as soon as the funds were received from the sponsoring agencies.
He said, “The money is not missing; they should have patience. The authorities are working round the clock to secure the funds from the appropriate quarters and the relevant agencies and sponsors of the mission.
“The soldiers have to be assured that the authorities are working round the clock to make sure that due processes are completed to make sure that they are paid their money.
“Nobody would be owed at the end of the day; nobody should be under the impression that they are being denied; necessary processes with the sponsoring agencies are being followed.”
Investigations further revealed that the soldiers of Nigerian Army Battalion 40 are also agitated that they have not got their N17,000 allowances for the month of January, 2014, from the UN.
In his reaction, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Olajide Laleye, said in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday that it was not true that the Nigerian Army was owing soldiers arrears of allowances.
He said that the Nigerian Army had always given priority to the payment of salaries and allowances of its soldiers and couldn’t have misappropriated any soldier’s allowances.
He said that the Army had been deploying its soldiers for the UN Mission in Dafur since 2004 and had ensured that all soldiers and officers involved in the missions were paid up to date. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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ReplyDeleteIcan understand why military officers serving in finance are multi millionaires.
Na today, The culture of Nigerian Army is to wait for your turn. When it comes to your turn then you start looting.
ReplyDelete