An officer of the Nigerian Army
has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to complain about alleged
corruption and sorry state of troops.
The officer, also part of the war
against Boko Haram, wrote the letter in reaction to the army’s dismissal of the
complaints of Abdulrauf Aliyu, a private of the Nigerian army.
Aliyu had complained that he was
abandoned after being shot by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
However, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman,
spokesman of the army, denied the allegation, saying Aliyu was declared a
deserter for leaving the hospital he was receiving treatment without being
cleared by the authorities.
“This is a clear case of a
deserter from the Nigerian army trying to run a campaign of calumny against the
Nigerian army on Social Media,” The Cable quoted him as saying.
But the soldier who wrote the
letter spoke in defence of Aliyu and also drew attention to the plight of his
colleagues.
Full text of letter below…
“Having read the online
correspondence between Dr. Idris Ahmed of CUPS and our Army spokesman,
Brigadier General S.K. Usman, I have decided to take a major risk and write to
your Excellency directly over this issue.
Sir, I am a course-mate of Pvt.
Abdulrauf Aliyu, who Oga S.K. claimed that he has gone AWOL. We trained at the
same company, Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria, Kaduna State. We are presently posted
to Operation LAFIYA DOLE. On behalf of all the colleagues of Pvt. Abdulrauf
Aliyu, I categorically refute the allegation that Pvt. Abdulrauf Aliyu deserted
the Army.
The Sections 59 – 63 of the Armed
Forces Act, Cap A20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as quoted by Oga
S.K., has always been mentioned by our superiors, to protect themselves and
antagonise us, whenever they have done mischief.
Your Excellency, the case of Pvt.
Abdulrauf Aliyu is actually not an isolated one. There are many such cases of
soldiers who got wounded on the battlefront. It is true, some are well looked
after, as mentioned by Oga S.K. Usman in his press release.
Unfortunately, due to corruption
in the system, some unfortunate soldiers, mostly from less privileged
backgrounds, are left to fend for themselves. Like myself, Pvt. Abdulrauf Aliyu
comes from a humble family. He sustained life-threatening injuries in the
abdomen during a routine operation. The initial first aid treatment and medical
care that he received was very inadequate.
With full Army permission, Pvt
Abdulrauf Aliyu and his family paid for his transfer to University of Maiduguri
Teaching Hospital. Unfortunately, the care he received in Maiduguri Teaching
Hospital too was inadequate. Eventually, his family had to pay for his transfer
to a specialist facility in Sokoto.
Your Excellency, corruption in
the Army is REAL, and it is killing us. Every man and woman who decided to join
the Army knows the risks. While we expect to die in the hands of the enemy, we
don’t expect to die in the hands of the Nigerian Army, due to corruption and
criminal negligence.
Just the other week, about 14 (I
am not sure of the exact numbers) of our colleagues died in the hands of Boko
Haram, who attacked the Army camp. The circumstances surrounding their
unnecessary death warrants a full investigation by his Excellency. Sir, you
will be shocked of the outcome.
The bodies of the slain heroes
are still lying here in Damaturu, Yobe State. The story of this incidence has
hardly been officially published by the Army or Nigerian media. Attached is the
picture of the commander of the camp. He too died in the attack.
Your Excellency, this is the
third month in a row that we have been denied of our operations allowance. We
have to rely ONLY on our meagre salary for everything. From battalion
commanders, to Company and Sectors leaders, we are all in debt, because our
salaries are not enough to sustain us at the battlefront while feeding our
families back at home.
It is a big shame that we have
joined the Army to defend the civilians, yet we have to go to the civilians in
town to borrow money to fend for ourselves at the battlefront. Take for
instance the food that we are fed. Most of the times it is not fit for human
consumption.
I attach for your perusal, your
Excellency, the lunch that was fed to us this afternoon (3/11/2017). As you can
clearly see, there is not a single piece of meat or fish in it. The taste of
the food is so bad that we have to add surplus salt to be able to eat it. This
is also dangerous for our health. A plate of our food per soldier is probably
about two hundred Naira (N200).
It is said that the Federal
Government spends about fourteen thousand Naira (N14,000) on each prisoner in
Nigeria. Here, at the battlefront in Operation LAFIYA DOLE, the Army spends
about six hundred Naira (N600) per day per soldier on feeding us, while in
reality billions of Naira is appropriated per year for this purpose.
Your Excellency, we are treated
like animals. Most of us are afraid to talk because of the dire consequence. As
the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, your Excellency, kindly
investigate. There is corruption in the Army. Brave soldiers are needlessly
dying.”
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Mr President,please act on this its another corruption saga erupting in your administration,,,,if not handled well it will blow out alot of issues
ReplyDeleteMr. President, this allegation must be look into.
ReplyDeleteMr President, this letter could be an eye opener to u in the army sector, these men deserve the best of treatment though the act mercilessly on civilian when they cross their part, these men are made to defend the country, if u did not treat them well or listen to their cry they might be tempted to betray the nation not mind the consequences. Please Mr president, use ur power and look into this matter as a matter of urgency, time is no longer on our side, God bless federal Republic Of Nigeria,
ReplyDelete