SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how Adamu was detained by the army authorities for preaching about Jesus Christ while in service uniform on social media.
The Nigerian Army has denied detaining one of its personnel, Lance Corporal Musa Adamu, on religious grounds.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how Adamu was detained by the army authorities for preaching about Jesus Christ while in service uniform on social media.
According to a military source, the Benue state-born soldier has been in detention for over 45 days while his salary was stopped over six months ago.
Adamu, who was born a Muslim, was said to have recently converted to Christianity.
“One of my colleague soldiers in the Nigerian Army that preaches on Facebook with the uniform is currently being locked up by the Army authorities and today makes it 49 days,” a soldier had told SaharaReporters.
“They are not paying his salary as well and not feeding him, his name on Facebook is Aaron Abraham but Musa Adamu is his name in the military. He was born a Muslim but converted.
“His offence according to the GOC is preaching the gospel on uniform. I heard they already blocked his account for over 10 months now.”
Reacting in a statement on Tuesday, Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu confirmed the soldier is in custody.
Nwachukwu however said he was detained for violation of some provisions of the Armed Forces Act and not for converting from Islam to Christianity.
He said Adamu who is of the Amphibious Training School was attached to 63 Brigade to participate in an ongoing operation, during which he was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform in violation of the extant social media policy of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The statement said: “This prompted his invitation for interrogation by relevant authorities. Rather than present himself for the investigation, he absconded for about six and a half months, resulting in the declaration of the soldier as Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).
“The action of the personnel violates Section 58 (a) (b) Obstruction of Provost Officers and Section 59 (a) (b) Absence Without Leave.
“It must be clarified that once personnel is absent from his unit for seven days without any justification, he will be declared AWOL.
“This automatically triggers the freezing of his salary account, until the personnel returns to his unit and is arraigned and sanctioned.
“It is equally important to state that contrary to the erroneous impression that the soldier is being victimised for converting from Islam to Christianity and for preaching the gospel, the soldier was rather taken into custody for investigation and in pursuance of statutory provisions enshrined in the Armed Forces Act CAP 20, the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which the soldier contravened. His detention is, therefore, not unlawful.”
He added that Army religious affairs are handled by designated clergy in the Directorates of Chaplain Services (Protestant), (Roman Catholic), and Islamic Affairs.
He said personnel of these directorates are mandated to conduct all religious activities to cater to the spiritual needs of all NA personnel, both in the theatres of operations and within the barracks.
“The question begging for an answer is, if the NA allowed the soldier to change his religion, why would the NA victimise him? It is ironic, therefore, that an institution that promotes spiritual well-being is alleged to have detained the soldier for his faith. This is even when it is abundantly clear that he has the opportunity to change his Corps to any of the Army’s chaplaincies.
“The NA will not be hesitant to state that it is guided by ethics, traditions, and military laws, which direct personnel on their conduct. Violation of these ideals and statutory stipulations evokes sanctions, irrespective of the faith of the offender,” he added.