Pardoned Mutiny Soldiers Reject Redeployment to N-East to Face Boko Haram

The over 3032 soldiers, who pardoned last August for various offences during campaigns against the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, in the North East of Nigeria, have rejected posting to the fronts. The soldiers explained that they were never really pardoned and re-integrated into the Army, but rather, re-sentenced to the war front. Vanguard learned this created anxiety at the Command and Staff College, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, NASI, Jaji, Kaduna state, when over 3,000 soldiers – who claimed to have been subjected to unimaginable ill treatment after their pardon  were gathered by the Commandant of NASI, Major General Kassim Aldulkareem, to inform them that they have been assigned new riffles and should be ready for deployment to the fronts on the 11 January, 2016.

According to sources, the soldiers complained that they have not been fully re-instated into the Nigerian Army, because attempts by them to report to their units were rejected at their bases since they have no re-instatement letters. The soldiers also said that since they have been kicked out of the barracks they have not been paid for seven months making their families who live off-barracks begging for food. It was gathered that, they cried,

“We are not going! Give us re-instatement letters! You are sentencing us back to war,” among others. According to sources, the Commandant hurriedly left when the soldiers were becoming uncontrollable. One of the soldiers who spoke to some newsmen on grounds that his name not be mentioned said: 

“Look at me; I have put in about 28 years of my life serving this country. I have seen action in Liberia; I have been to Rwanda, Sudan and even served overseas and we the Nigerian troops did very well and were decorated in some occasions. 

“But, our experience in fighting to save our motherland is too sad a story for the outside world to know. We are not cowards. We held on for over four months facing Boko Haram. 

“I just want to say that after the Army dismissed about 5,000 of us, 3032 of us were pardoned last August. Since that time, the Army Authority has treated us like prisoners of wars.