The Nigerian Army on Sunday confirmed the detention of an
unnamed female soldier who got romantically entangled with a male corps member
at the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Yikpata, Kwara State.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General
Onyema Nwachukwu, in a chat on Sunday, said the
female officer violated military laws by getting involved in a public display
of amorous relationship with a paramilitary trainee – a corps member.
Video clips showing a male corps member proposing to a
female soldier at the Kwara NYSC camp hit the internet days ago eliciting
pleasant reactions from many social media users.
One of the video clips apparently recorded on the camp’s parade ground showed the yet-to-be-identified corps member holding a ring as he curtseyed to ask the female soldier to marry him.
The visibly excited spinster, in military uniform, accepted
the young graduate’s proposal and the latter went on to insert the ring in his
love interest’s finger. The lovebirds later locked themselves in a warm embrace
and ki$$ed passionately to the cheery applause of other corps members.
However, speaking on Sunday, the Army
spokesman said the female soldier violated the Nigerian Army’s rules and
regulations guiding the codes of conduct of military personnel when deployed
for duty.
Nwachukwu said the female soldier’s action amounted to
taking advantage of her trainee, noting that the public would have been outraged
and accused the Army of coercion had a male soldier proposed to a female corper
during NYSC parade.
He said, “The female soldier in question violated the
following rules of the NA:
“1. Fraternization while on official duty at the NYSC camp.
That is, indulging in an amorous relationship with a trainee.
“2. A personnel must have served for three years before
he/she can qualify for marriage.
“3. She disobeyed the Armed Forces of Nigeria standing
guidelines and directives for the use of Social Media.
“4. Indulging in romance while in uniform.
“5. Her conduct was prejudicial to good order and military
discipline.
“All the above, if proven are in violation of extant laws
with attendant disciplinary and penal implications.”
The Army spokesman, however, declined comments on the likely
punishment the female soldier might get but said “the Nigerian Military like
all others, has its disciplinary codes, distinct from that of the general
society. Every personnel has voluntarily undertaken to be bound by this code.”
The Kwara incident occurred some three months after a female
soldier, Lt. Chika Anele, dehumanised a female corps member, Ifenyinwa
Ezeiruaku, at the 13 Brigade headquarters, Calabar, Cross River State, in
September 2021.
In a viral video, Anele ordered the corps member, who was in
her uniform to kneel down as she used a bowl to scoop muddy water from a bucket
and poured same on her.
The Army had condemned the action and said the soldier would
be tried for unprofessional conduct but it had yet to make the conclusion of
the trial public.
The NYSC scheme was created in May 1973 by former head of
state, Yakubu Gowon, as a tool for healing, reconciliation and nation-building
after the horrific experience of the civil war between the Biafran side and the
Nigerian State.
The scheme encourages the posting of graduates to states
other than their state of origin as they are expected to mix with people from
different ethnic groups, social and family backgrounds, and learn the culture
of the indigenes in the location they are posted to.
The young graduates are camped for three weeks and are
drilled in paramilitary skills by soldiers before they are deployed to their
places of primary assignments.
As Nigeria’s security challenges aggravate in the last
couple of years, some critics have called for the discontinuation of the scheme
citing the kidnapping and killing of precocious corps members but the
government has defended the continued existence of the scheme, saying it is
still fulfilling its purpose as an avenue for ethnic integration.
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