One of the affected soldiers told SaharaReporters that the Battalion in Ngamdu under the command of Lt. Col. A. A. Buba gave them only bread and tea for breakfast on Mondays and Thursdays, rice for dinners, white rice and stew for Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays “but concussion rice for the remaining week days.”
Some soldiers of 154 Taskforce Battalion of the Nigerian Army deployed to fight terrorists in the country’s Northeast region have lamented that despite an increment of money earmarked for their feeding allowance, they are being fed with poorly cooked rice.
One of the affected soldiers told SaharaReporters that the Battalion in Ngamdu under the command of Lt. Col. A. A. Buba gave them only bread and tea for breakfast on Mondays and Thursdays, rice for dinners, white rice and stew for Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays “but concussion rice for the remaining week days.”
The soldiers shared several photographs showing the abysmal food they were served in their base, even as they lamented the non-payment of their allowances.
WATCH: Nigerian Soldiers Share Photos Of Burnt Rice, Other Inadequate Meals Given To Them By Army In North-East Despite Increment In Feeding Allowance pic.twitter.com/W8N9JAEdlP
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) October 2, 2023
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that the affected soldiers revealed that before now, there was a provision of N30,000 as a monthly food allowance per head but there was a recent addition of N6000 (making it N36,000 per head) due to a hike in the price of foodstuffs in the market.
However, the soldiers said that despite this increment of budgetary allocation, their superiors still continued to feed them with meals that even a dog could not eat.
One of the soldiers had said that “The cheating was so much, too much. If I am not in the Northeast, I would have resigned because the cheating is much. Let's say the money they gave them for feeding allowance is not that much.”
This comes despite SaharaReporters having reported that the General Commanding Officer (GOC) of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army issued a warning threatening to sanction commanders and commanding officers in charge of the Operation Hadin Kai Joint Task Force, North East headquarters and units under the division, over poor feeding of troops sent to the front and in units.
The warning came after SaharaReporters reported that troops deployed by the 152 Battalion of the Nigerian Army for Operation Hadin Kai in the Northeast region lamented the alleged misuse of power against their rights by their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel M. Z. Dikko.
The soldiers in their cry for urgent intervention by the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff, Theatre Commander and the General Commanding Officer of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, had lamented hunger, saying they are not properly fed. They also lamented the non-payment of their allowances.
The soldiers lamented that they are not given good food and that their food is also not enough.