This is to substantiate allegations that they are suffering at the hands of their Theatre Commander, Major General W. Shaiba.
Nigerian soldiers of 7 Division, Maimalari Military Cantonment, Maiduguri, Borno State in North-East Nigeria have provided pictorial evidence of non-functional water supply system at the cantonment.
This is to substantiate allegations that they are suffering at the hands of their Theatre Commander, Major General W. Shaiba.
The aggrieved soldiers said it became necessary to present the evidence to the general public after the Nigerian Army tagged SaharaReporters’ story about their plight as fake news on X its account on Thursday.
SaharaReporters on Wednesday reported that some of the soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said they had been spending at least N2,000 to buy water daily as Shaiba, formerly the General Commanding Officer (GOC) of 7 Division, had allegedly disconnected the generator meant to be used for powering the pumping machine in the cantonment.
They alleged that they had been subjected to acute suffering as they had no electricity supply, water and other social amenities.
The soldiers told SaharaReporters that whenever the Theatre Commander left for his office, he always disconnected a water supply system close to his residence in the barracks where soldiers and their families fetch water from.
They alleged that Shaibu had not shown any concern for the welfare of soldiers and their families, also lamenting that they were not being paid operational welfare allowance and other entitlements being paid to Navy and Customs personnel.
However, when SaharaReporters contacted the Theatre Commander, Shaiba, he denied all the allegations.
Efforts made by our reporter to get the reaction of the Nigerian Army on the soldiers' complaints and allegations failed as the Army spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, did not answer his calls.
He also did not reply to the message sent to him.
But after the story was published, the Nigerian Army on Thursday posted a screenshot of the story, tagging it fake news.
Insisting on their claims and allegations when SaharaReporters presented the army's reaction to the soldiers, one of the soldiers said, “Don't mind them. Maybe SaharaReporters should show the whole world how the boreholes look like, the present condition of the borehole right now.
“I saw it on the Army page too, I will make sure I get the two boreholes’ pictures now. My colleague still bought water this morning.”
The soldiers provided photographs of the boreholes including the one behind NAOWA Nursery and Primary School Maimalari Military Cantonment, which they said was inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff in December 2023.
“There is no water supply right from the beginning, it is a scam borehole,” they said.