According to some of them who spoke exclusively to SaharaReporters, they’re forced daily to go into the bush to look for dried corn leaves for the commander’s cattle.
Some soldiers serving at the depot of the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State have accused the commander of the military training centre, Major General Mohammed Aminu Abdullahi (N/10208) of turning them into “slaves”.
According to some of them who spoke exclusively to SaharaReporters, they’re forced daily to go into the bush to look for dried corn leaves for the commander’s cattle.
“Every day, about 50 soldiers move from farm to farm to gather dried corn leaves for his (Abdullahi) cows and the soldiers must fill two trailers with these dried corn leaves every day,” one of the affected soldiers told SaharaReporters.
The depot in Zaria is used by the army for the training of recruits.
Since its establishment in 1924, Nigerian soldiers have been trained at the facility.
The army personnel added that the Major General has shown that he values his cows more than the soldiers under his command.
“Major-General MA Abdullahi is the Commandant of the Nigerian Army depot. He prefers his cows to soldiers, up to the point that he'll use soldiers to go to the bush to gather food for his cows.
“For almost a month now, these soldiers have been suffering every day just to go and bring food for his cows. You'd think they're prisoners when you see them; almost 50 soldiers every day going to the bush to get grass for his cows,” another soldier told SaharaReporters.
“Even at that, the welfare of soldiers here is extremely poor. Since he took over as the commandant, the feeding has been nothing to write home about.”
Regarding the number of cows owned by the commandant, one of the aggrieved soldiers said, “I can't really say how many cows he has, but they're up to 60, if not more.
“He has a cow farm here in the depot. When he was posted here, he brought the cows along. There is a steady power supply and water for the cows even if there's none in the barracks cause he had already installed solar panels for them.
“He even dedicated a field that was formally used for training recruits for his cows. Grasses are being planted there so that the cows will eat them when they grow. In fact, he can't stay a day without checking on those cows. Even if nobody eats in the depot, so long as the cows have eaten, he's okay.”
“He even values those cows more than his primary duty here which is to train recruits. He doesn't have an interest in the training of recruits.
“Even when recruits are going for exercises, you will see him with his cattle; he doesn't want to know if the recruits are properly trained or not. But he can't go to bed without checking on the cows,” another soldier added.
The soldier continued, “For fear that they may be stolen or the pictures of the cows may be taken, he installed CCTV cameras everywhere there.
“Soldiers are the ones who get dried corn leaves for the cows, not recruits. In fact, since he came there's been mismanagement of manpower. Soldiers are being scattered everywhere doing what they're not supposed to do - taking care of his cows, some bringing food, and so many other things that were never done before he came.
“Every day we complain of manpower but soldiers are scattered all over tending to his personal business.
“The soldiers who get grasses for his cows, he doesn't even give them food. They leave as early as 6 am and return in the evening; even water, he won't give them.
“The overall feeding of soldiers in the barracks is nothing to write home about. If we go for outdoor exercise, hunger is one of the major challenges we have there because there's no way to get what to eat and the feeding is very poor.
“Soldiers who passed out last October will tell you the same thing.”
On Friday, SaharaReporters exclusively reported how recruits died of a strange illness allegedly caused by food poisoning at the depot.
“The rate at which the recruits are dying at the Army depot in Zaria has never been heard of before. Within two weeks, we've lost up to 14 recruits following the outbreak of a strange disease caused by food poisoning,” a military source had told SaharaReporters.
“Right now, over 80 other recruits are hospitalised. The army chief should visit the training ground and see by himself, it’s so sad.”
Sources also accused senior officers led by Abdullahi of making moves to cover up the incident.
Efforts to get Maj. Gen. Abdullahi on his mobile phone for comment failed as he hung up immediately our reporter mentioned SaharaReporters. Subsequent efforts made to reach him failed.