Some of the detained soldiers have been on the war front for over six years without leave, while some have not been given a pass to see their wives and children in the last three years
No fewer than 142 Nigerian soldiers have been detained for over 10 months without trial in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Some of the detained soldiers have been on the war front for over six years without leave, while some have not been given a pass to see their wives and children in the last three years.
According to the sources, some of the detained soldiers were accused of stealing bullets while some others lost their guns to terrorists or other sundry offences.
Among the detainees are about 20 soldiers who had been recommended to be released to their units because their cases were minor, according to military lawyers.
Sources said that some of the soldiers were posted to the front between 2017 and 2018 but have neither been rotated nor transferred to other areas for fresh hands to move in since then.
A senior military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said some of the soldiers are weary and suffering from fatigue, crack or depression.
Some of the soldiers who were taken to the war front between the middle of 2017 and early January 2018, also said that their welfare or feeding arrangements depended solely on the garrison or brigade commanders.
One of the soldiers said, “Occasionally, soldiers at the fronts are given ‘pass’ to visit their families but some of us have not seen our wives and children in the last two and a half years.”
Some of the soldiers said their wives had abandoned them for other men, including their colleagues in the barracks.
One of the sources said, “Some garrison or brigade commanders are not interested in troops’ welfare. However, some are more interested in promotions while some only feed soldiers well and not care about promotion or other welfare issues.
“Some commanders are very bad; both garrison and brigade commanders. They are not interested in paying their troops any benefits or promoting them. We have experienced all these.”
According to the sources, the troops in Bama, Borno State need more hands to fight insurgents.
“Sometimes, they attack our units of five or 11 soldiers, using RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and AGL (automatic grenade launcher) while we use LMGs (light machine guns). If you abandon any weapon while escaping, you will be detained for a very long time, tried or court marshalled,” one of them said.
Meanwhile, a close relation of one of the soldiers who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity also complained about the situation.
“Our brothers and husbands have been serving in the North East since early 2017 or 2018, without being changed or even allowed to visit their families at all.
“As we speak, we have not seen them for over two years and a half or three years. We learnt that some are feeling depressed.
“As their relations, we feel bad that these soldiers are unable to see their wives or children in the last three or four years. We feel emotionally disturbed. Some of them have lost their wives to other men or even fellow soldiers,” Ogochi, wife of one of the detained personnel lamented.
Meanwhile, efforts made by SaharaReporters to get reach the Director of Army Public Relations, Maj-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, for his reaction to the allegations, were not successful.
At the time of filing this report, Nwachukwu has not answered his calls or replied to text messages.
Saharareporters
