The personnel were among the Course 2022 on Small Boat Engineer Course (SBEC), Coy Amphibious Operations Course (CAOC), Small Boat Operator Course (SBOC) and Combat Swimming Course (CSC) who finished on December 16, 2022 but they were yet to be paid their course allowances five months after – a development that had never happened in the Nigerian military trainings.
Some military personnel have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, for the immediate removal of Brig Gen R.S. Omolori as the Commandant at the Amphibious Training School (ATS) Calabar, Cross River state.
The personnel were among the Course 2022 on Small Boat Engineer Course (SBEC), Coy Amphibious Operations Course (CAOC), Small Boat Operator Course (SBOC) and Combat Swimming Course (CSC) who finished on December 16, 2022 but they were yet to be paid their course allowances five months after – a development that had never happened in the Nigerian military trainings.
They accused the Commandant of corruption, adding that the course allowance was budgeted in the 2022 Nigeria military budget and wondered why they had not been paid five months after training.
Aggrieved soldiers who spoke to SaharaReporters on Thursday, disclosed that their course allowance was N80,000 while disclosing that the “Army Headquarters released this money quarterly, and this course allowance is in the 2022 budget.”
Lamenting, one of the soldiers said, “We finished our courses on December 16, 2022 on Small Boat Engineer Course (SBEC), Coy Amphibious Operations Course (CAOC), Small Boat Operator Course (SBOC) and Combat Swimming Course (CSC) all of course 2022.
“Regrettably, up till now, we have not received our course allowance which is N80,000 and now it is going to five months without any reason. We have been complaining that soldiers’ morale is dampened everyday by commanders and this is one of the examples.”
According to him, “in other Army Training Schools, they have paid their course allowance to their soldiers that run courses in their School. In the entire Army Training School, this course allowance can only be delayed for not more than three months and it will be paid but ours are going to five months now.
“We have not received our course allowance and this had never happened in ATS before until Brig-Gen. RS Omolori took over command in September 2022 and this nonpayment of this allowance started.”
He alleged that the Commandant and his management were using their money to do business with the bank. “The Commander connects to the Army finance and starts using our money to do business with the bank. They will leave the money in the bank as a fixed deposit and the bank will be paying them a percentage for a period of time because they believe we can't question them or do anything about it.”
“Please, we call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces, the Defence Headquarters and Army Headquarters for the removal of Brig-Gen RS Omolori as Commandant's Amphibious Training School (ATS) Calabar, Cross River State.
“We don't want this kind of Commander, he is a corrupt senior officer that doesn't care about his soldiers, and let him pay our money before his removal,” the personnel pleaded.