Early last month, Lieutenant-General Luka N. Yusuf, Chief of Army Staff, COAS, visited Rukuba Barracks of the Third Armoured Division in Jos, Plateau State. Yusuf’s visit was primarily to, once again, urge his men to be committed to the country’s democracy.
But the Army chief met a disaffected group of soldiers, to whom colourful speeches about democracy meant nothing. And their disaffection rang loud. While receiving a parade of officers and men of the division, Yusuf announced that President Umar Musa Yar’Adua is committed to improving the welfare of soldiers. But his utterance was anything but glad tidings, as the soldiers booed the COAS, a gross act of insurbordination.
Just why would they do such, given the gravity of such conduct? “Honestly, we were forced to mount this parade. I wouldn’t have come for the parade. How do you expect me to be happy when, as a corporal, I earn just about N17,000 monthly. That isn’t even the issue. Sometime last year, I think in the supplementary appropriation bill, about N110 billion was voted for the armed forces; N100 billion to be used to augment salaries, while the remaining was meant for the upgrade of the barracks. But instead of disbursing the money as budgeted, some of our generals decided to pocket it,” ranted a soldier.
He added that while his counterparts in the Air Force have since received their arrears for 11 months, he and his colleagues in the Army are yet to receive theirs. “First they paid arrears for one month and our December salary in January. Later they turned around to say they had paid three months’ arrears and were left with just nine months to clear. That infuriated us,” he said.
Aside that, the furious soldier pointed to the dishevelled state of Rukuba Barracks, saying it was last renovated about a decade ago. The decrepit condition of the barracks, he said, perhaps a touch exaggeratedly, has scrambled soldiers’ brains. “How do you expect people living under this kind of squalor to reason normally? Why won’t soldiers and their wards take to criminal activities when they live under dehumanising conditions?” he queried.
This, according to the soldier, partly explains why soldiers are disgruntled. A week after his experience at Rukuba Barracks, Yusuf was billed to address soldiers at the Ojo Cantonment in Lagos. That was, however, shelved when he sent Major General J.O. Lartey, the former Director of Army Finance and Administration, DAFA, to represent him.
At the Ojo Cantonment, Lartey, who was sacked on 11 January, met an equally seething group of soldiers. Even before reading his speech, soldiers reportedly grumbled, with some refusing to stand at attention when the General started reading his address. Their rage would further seep to the surface when, instead of the traditional hurray they were directed to give Lartey, they gave jeers. Hurray, the customary response to the call, was replaced by Ole (thief). Apparently aware that the guest was squirming with embarrassment, senior officers quickly took Lartey away from the scene.
For many soldiers, Generals Yusuf and Lartey deserved the treatment they got. The two officers are widely considered as directly or indirectly responsible for soldiers’ plight. “Let me show you my pay slip. My gross pay for January, as a corporal, is N17,707 and the net pay is N16,894.57. My mates in the Air Force collect N35,000 monthly. These Generals are just eating our money,” a soldier claimed.
The 63NA Corporal who resides at the Mile 2 Signal Barracks in Lagos claims he lives in a one-room apartment without water or light. Yet, he is ready to lay down his life for his country and wants President Yar’Adua and the National Assembly to quickly begin an investigation into how the supplementary allocation was used. He also wants the President to ensure that soldiers are paid their arrears, which date back to April 2007.
He claims that as a corporal, a police constable earns more than he does. “I am telling you that this is why you find some soldiers misbehaving. Some have even decided to go into robbery. And these are men with adequate weapons training. God help our country. That is why there is always one robbery or the other at Barracks Bus Stop in Ojo. The situation must change, else it would get worse,” he warned.
A very loud noise was made about the conditions of the soldiers by a group which calls itself Patriotic Majors. In its petition addressed to the President and dated 12 January, three days to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, the group highlighted the problems of the Army and links them to the unrest within its ranks.
Specifically, the group alleged that some Generals have been stealing Army funds meant for salaries and allowances. On the unease this has caused, the group wrote: “Your security chiefs, excluding those of the Armed Forces, can confirm to you that all ranks in the Army are aggrieved and are openly protesting to whoever cares to listen.”
Brimming with disenchantment, the Majors alleged that Generals have misappropriated funds allocated for recent salary increase. They also accused the Generals of paying soldiers’ allowances in bits unlike what obtains in the Navy, Air Force, Police and other paramilitary outfits. “While other institutions have paid 11 months arrears as directed by the Federal Government, the thieving Generals have paid only three months’ arrears. The three months’ arrears paid by the Nigerian Army is less than what the Navy and Air Force paid their personnel for the same period. The Navy and Air Force have so far paid five months arrears, while our thieving Generals insist the Army is only entitled to three months arrears,” the group wrote.
The Patriotic Majors followed this up with the accusation that the Generals claimed that furniture and transport allowances paid to officers and soldiers in 2007 were deducted from the paid arrears, whereas Navy and Air Force personnel who benefited from similar payments experienced no deduction. “It is unthinkable that a Police Inspector could collect more money than a Major in the Nigerian Army because our thieving Generals are insensitive,” the Majors raged.
Pointedly, they accused the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Martin Agwai, and the COAS of being leaders of the stealing ring. Again, the President was informed that his younger brother was promoted by the Army authorities as a way of impressing the President and deflecting his attention from the fraud in the force.
“We are aware that you did not authorise the promotion of your brother, who was not due for promotion in 2007. It was a ploy by our thieving Generals to impress you and enhance their stealing efforts. A copy of the letter signed by our Military Secretary, which made your brother ineligible for promotion is enclosed for your attention. The majority of the qualified officers who were not promoted because of Major Yar’Adua are still very bitter,” the group said.
Neglect of junior officers was a major part of the majors’ petition. They alleged that junior officers and soldiers were conveyed to the last Nigerian Army Games venue from across the country in open trucks without any protection from weather elements.
Another important issue was that of car loans, from which the group alleged that many officers were prevented from benefitting. “Your Excellency, over two years after your predecessor approved a car loan scheme for officers, half the Nigerian Army officers are yet to benefit from the scheme. Some of us can hardly explain to our wives and children why our colleagues in the same offices and barracks are driving new cars. Most Majors are yet to get the 307 car because our thieving Generals opted to collect 307 for their wives and concubines instead of the 405 allocated to them,” the group charged.
It then issued a 15 February deadline to the government, after which it would “act”. It demanded the removal and trial of Agwai, Yusuf, Director of Finance, Principal Staff Officers at the Army Headquarters and General Officers Commanding, GOCs, for corruption. Copies of the petition were sent to the Senate President, David Mark; National Security Adviser, service chiefs, Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the State Security Service.
The ultimatum by the Majors seems to have needled the government into launching an investigation into the allegations. Lartey, almost predictably, was a casualty, as he was relieved of his job for issuing a signal on behalf of the COAS, saying the Army was not owing its personnel. Also likely to be seared by the probe is the Army Directorate of Finance.
Despite government’s approval, on 27 January 2007, of N21,000 as minimum wage in the Army, the old salary of about N14,000 subsisted. This created an impression that the new wage structure, which was to take immediate effect, was already being implemented.
Events that led to Lartey’s ouster began in June, when Defence Minister, Yayale Ahmed, resumed office. The minister was said to have been presented a “special package” as is customary. Ahmed considered the origin of the package suspicious and reported to the President, who ordered an investigation into the origin.
The investigators learnt from the payment vouchers presented by Professor Charles Soludo, Governor of the Central Bank, and the Accountant General of the Federation, that the package originated from the consolidated salary structure for the armed forces.
An incensed Yar’Adua was said to have ordered that all the arrears for 12 months be paid immediately.The Navy complied and paid nine months, with plans to pay the balance later. The Air Force also tidied up its books to pay all the arrears. So did the police. The Army, however, pleaded for time to pay in tranches since the amount involved was huge. The crisis delayed the December salary of soldiers until last month when they were paid the new salary package.
In Kaduna, the “khaki boys” as they are popularly called, were willing to talk about their plight when this magazine called. In fact, they were extremely happy to explain the hard times staring them in the face. From all the four barracks visited in Kaduna, from the Artillery barrack, Kotoko barrack, 44 barrack to 81 barrack, the information gathered was not different. Morale was discovered to be very low.
Those who spoke to TheNEWS complained bitterly about the meagre salary being paid by the Army to its soldiers across the country. According to them, a corporal, who has put in more than 12 years into the service earns N15, 200 as take-home pay, while a sergeant that has put in over 20 years earns just N21,000. And these soldiers have an average of 4 children each. One of them asked, “How do we survive with this kind of salary?”
Certainly, survival becomes that of the fittest. In the past, people knew that the soldiers don’t receive bribe even when people give to them, but the case is not the same today as we see them, especially those posted outside the barracks on peace mission, openly take bribe. When our correspondent asked why, they simply said, “Old boy, man must survive.”
TheNEWS also gathered that army kits, which include the uniform, shoes, caps, and belts, are bought and sewn by the soldiers themselves. Even those drafted for foreign peace mission buy the kits themselves and failure to do so “in any manner” means your name could be dropped.
A quality uniform material, they explained, costs N5000, while the boot costs between N4,000 and N5,000, not to talk about other items required to make a complete uniform. “This is the position now,” one of them said.
The angry ones among them that have gone on one foreign mission or the other lamented the delay in payment of allowances earmarked by either Africa Union or United Nations to them. They revealed that the African Union gives 400 US dollars to one soldier, while the United Nations gives 600 US dollars as monthly allowance. But they alleged that Nigerian Army authorities only paid them 100 US dollars for AU and 150 US dollars for UN. The balance is kept with the excuse that it is being saved for them and would be delivered to them when they return home. However, some of them who returned from Sudan and Liberia have not been paid. For internal peacekeeping, N150 is paid for feeding and outstation allowance on a daily basis.
Investigation further revealed that when any rank and file falls ill, he is left to take care of himself by buying drugs and other medication even when the 44 Military Hospital, Kaduna is there. In addition, where a soldier loses his life in active service, the Army authority, according them, abandons the corpse for the family to bury.
On accommodation, the last time they recalled the barracks in Kaduna State were renovated was 1996 and only a few blocks that were identified to be in very bad shape got a facelift. The so-called Army Children schools are more of private schools now as each pupil admitted pays so much money as school fees.
These problems, they said, affect only the rank and file. It was against this background that they urged the Federal Government to order an investigation into the activities of the Army authority.
Yet, another source of disenchantment, this magazine gathered, is alleged abuse of human rights in the barracks. Currently, Abuja’s Mogadishu Barracks, formerly Abacha Barracks, is frothing with the rage of soldiers, who feel they have been unjustly punished.
In the morning of 16 January, a mini-rebellion took place. This magazine gathered that 10 officers held in a cell attempted to break free and beat up Regulating Petty Officer, RPO, Umar Mohammed Sheshi and another officer on guard duty. The detained officers accused Sheshi and his colleague of insensitivity to their plight.
So tumultuous was the rebellion that it drew the attention of Brig-General B. Abubakar, Lt. D. Abashi, Lt. O. Altine, and Warrant Officer M. Danlami.
The incident, this magazine gathered, attracted a probe. The detained officers were said to have claimed that they were victims of circumstance. “In the military today, the easiest way to deal with an officer is to frame him up and clamp him in detention, where a kangaroo General Court Marshal, GCM, will be set up to try such officer,” said a source.
Peter Weibey, a warrant officer, hinted at this when he was recently quoted as saying that the offence for which he was being detained since January 2006 was nothing but victimisation. He was arrested and detained following investigation into the Army Promotion Scandal of 2006.
Detainees are said to experience regular starvation. “They don’t give us food, we buy our own food and at times, the officers on duty here will even ignore us when we beg them to help us buy food,” one of the inmates told TheNEWS.
The inmates, most of who claimed to be awaiting confirmation of their sentences, are requesting the authorities to come to their aid, as they seem forgotten in detention. Relying on Section 148 sub-section 2, of the Armed Forces Act, AFA, 2004, inmates claim their continued detention is unjustified since the authorities concerned have not transmitted their proceedings for ratification.
“Where the record of proceedings of a court-martial other than proceedings resulting in sentence of death or life imprisonment are not transmitted within 60 days as aforesaid, and the accused remains in custody, he shall be released unconditionally pending such confirmation or review. A finding of guilty or sentence of a Court-Martial shall not be treated as findings or sentence of a Court-Martial until it is confirmed,” the section says.
Aside from Weibey, those in detention at the time of filing this report include Sgt. Suleiman Yahaya, charged for rape; Aondoan G. Hassan of the Army Headquarters, Garrison Igbinadolor of the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School, Onne, Port Harcourt; and a civilian simply identified as Olutayo, detained for allegedly causing the disappearance of an army officer’s private part.
Already, the Chief of Army Staff has been petitioned by Weibey. In the 21-page petition, a copy of which was obtained by this magazine, Weibey claims that the offence, for which he has been charged, is not known in law. He was charged on two counts, but sentenced to two years imprisonment for conspiracy, contrary to Section 517 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 114 of the AFA Cap A2 LFN 2004. Two years ago, while acting as the Chief Clerk of Army Headquarters DOAA and member of the Promotion Board, Weibey was alleged to have illegally influenced the promotion of Shehu Ezekiel and Sgt. Jackson Alkali.
But in his petition, the accused is claiming that there is no penal legislation known as Criminal Code Act within the jurisdiction of the General Court Marshal, GCM. “This being the case, the alleged offence of conspiracy contrary to Section 517 of the Criminal Code Act, with which our client was charged, is not prescribed by any law within the jurisdiction where our client was alleged to have committed the offence. He can, therefore not be convicted on the charge,” Weibey’s lawyers claimed.
The accused charged that it was unfair that Colonel O.O Tokoya, the 2006 Promotion Board Chairman, was let off the hook since the request for promotion assistance from him (Weibey) was accompanied by the caveat: “If they (recipients) are qualified” and recommended from their units to him. Despite his pleas and arguments, the GCM, on 6 July 2007, sentenced Weibey to two years imprisonment. Yet, over six months after the sentence, it has not been transmitted for confirmation or review, contrary to AFA Act 148(2), which prescribes such within 60 days of sentence or the accused be unconditionally released pending such confirmation or review.
Sgt. Suleiman Yahaya, another detainee, was arrested on 9 September 2006 for allegedly raping Miss Olanike Ademola, daughter of Staff Sergeant O. Ademola, both of whom reside at Transit Camp, Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja . Though in the course of the GCM, Yahaya pleaded that the presumed victim was his girlfriend, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment on 12 December 2006.
Thirteen months after, Yahaya’s confirmation of sentence or review is still being awaited. Worried by this development, Yahaya has gone to the Court of Appeal, where the GCM has been asked to produce its proceedings.
More painful to Yahaya, according to sources, is the lack of food for inmates in the Mogadishu Barracks. “How do you detain somebody and not provide him food? That is the peak of man’s inhumanity to man,” one of the relatives of the detainees who spoke with this magazine offered last week.
When this magazine visited the Mogadishu Barracks, officials kept mum, as they claimed to be incompetent to comment. But Brigadier-General Solomon Giwa-Amu, Army Public Relations Officer, explained that confirmation of such sentences could only be effected by the Army Council. “There are categories of confirmation that are done by the Chief of Army Staff. Once an officer is involved, it is done by the Army Council and so it will wait until the council sits for ratification of the sentence. I am aware that the last Army Council ratified the entire outstanding sentence passed,” Giwa-Amu said. He added that the sitting of the council is at the discretion of the government and chairman of the council. Does this not negate the provision for review or ratification of sentence within 60 days? “It doesn’t because this is also within the provisions of the Armed Forces Act,” Giwa-Amu argued.
The Army spokesman denied that detained officers are deprived of food and medicine. “That is not correct. If it is so, you could have been hearing of casualties everyday. There is no way inmates will tell you that there is anything good happening to them. There is nobody in detention that doesn’t merit being in detention. We don’t just pick soldiers and put them in detention,” he explained.
Giwa-Amu described rumours of unease in the Army as untrue and ascribed them to those bent on causing disaffection within its ranks. He threatened that the Army would not hesitate to flush such people out.
Soldiers’ anger, however, is not confined to the barracks. Those on foreign service or tour, as it is referred to in the Army, have been having a torrid time. Military sources told this medium that a crooked scheme, designed by some senior officers in charge of posting, is in existence. The scheme is operated by senior officers arm-twisting those selected for foreign tours to agree to give up part of their entitlements. What, therefore, obtains in most cases is that where soldiers from other African countries are paid well, the reverse is the case with their Nigerian counterparts. “Our allowances were always reduced for one reason or the other and they would warn us against complaining. The most frustrating aspect is that the officers collect our money under one pretext or the other and we just cannot do anything about it. The truth is that we work for them,” a soldier complained.
This medium gathered that the government has issued an order that all outstanding allowances, especially to those who went on foreign assignments, be paid. Sources disclosed that the Army authorities have started effecting payment. TheNEWS’ investigations also revealed that allowances have been paid up to those who returned in 2006 and there are indications that others will soon receive theirs. “We have been told that all our allowances will be paid. We believe because they have paid up to those who returned in 2006. We are sure that very soon, the rest of us will receive ours,” a soldier told this medium.
Scotty Oluchukwu Nnamah, a lawyer who has represented many court-martialled soldiers, traced the slide in Army welfare to the military era.
Then, he said, officers were more concerned with getting connected with top officers, from which certain benefits could be derived to the detriment of the generality of the Army. In the process, Nnamah added, a few officers became millionaires while the majority were pauperised.
This pattern, he argued, continued under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration when barracks deteriorated, healthcare was shoddy and soldiers were poorly kitted. Also, little attention, alleged Nnamah, was paid to their educational advancement. Consequently, Nnamah reasoned, many soldiers committed crimes and sometimes aided criminals.
Indeed, some officers are currently facing trial for selling arms and ammunition to militants in the Niger Delta. Last week, a Major-General at the Defence Headquarters was reportedly court-martialled and retired from service on account of missing AK-47 rifles, Grenade-Propelled Machine Guns, GPMGs, and ammunition boxes from the Army Central Ordnance Depot in Kaduna. The General, who was the Director of Military Intelligence at the time the weapons were allegedly sold, hails from a state in the Niger Delta.
He was said to be a Brigadier when it was discovered that some arms were missing and when the matter was brought to his notice, he refused to arrest the suspected culprits. When he became a Major-General, however, the matter resurfaced. He set up a team of investigators to probe the matter, but the chairman of the team–a colonel–absolved the suspects of complicity.
On appointment as Chief of Army Staff, Yusuf investigated circumstances surrounding the missing arms and the involvement of Army officers. Among other things, he found out that the arms were actually used by the militants to kill some soldiers.
Aside the retired General, 15 other Army officers, including a Colonel, are also being probed over missing arms and ammunition. The probe, according to media reports, has yielded staggering sums of money earned from the illicit sale of arms to militants. A Major, who is one of the officers in charge of the Central Ordnance Depot, Kaduna, was found to have a bank balance of over N220 million. Another officer, a Colonel, allegedly had N100 million in his account. Nine of the non-commissioned officers attached to the depot had bank balances of between N10 million and N50 million.
•Additional reports by Funso Balogun, Francis Ottah Agbo and Femi Adi (Kaduna).
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