By Victor Akaa, Abuja
The Directorate of Army Public Relations has debunked unsubstantiated reports claiming the alleged protest by some frontline troops of unidentified battalion over the unpaid Operational allowance and obsoleted equipment
The troops were said to have belonged to an unknown battalion in Operation LAFIYA DOLE have protested their posting to a location in the Theatre of Operation.
Director, Army Public Relations Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima in a statement to Enugu Reporters said,the “reports also claimed that the aggrieved soldiers, besieged the Headquarters of the Theatre Command in Borno State, shooting sporadically into the air on Thursday to protests over alleged unpaid Operational allowance as well as obsoleted equipment.”
General Yerima refuted the claims, noting that it was fake,derogatory and
unsubstantiated reports sponsored by mischief makers.
“For the records, The Headquarters Theatre Command Operation LAFIYA DOLE wishes to state that the claims were unsubstantiated and did not represented the true situation of the incidents.
“Preliminary investigations by Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, revealed that what some media reports described as protest was a mild complaints by few soldiers of Mobile Strike Team (MST), deployed for Exercise Tura Takaibango in the frontline of Operations.
“At about 3pm on 25 March, 2021, some of the troops of Mobile Strike Team 10 & 11 who were primed to conduct phase 2 of Exercise TURA TAKAIBANGO in Bama after the first phase of the exercise, raised some concerns which was quickly addressed before they were relunched to the second phase of the Operations.
“On the issue of ‘obsolete weapons’ as reported in some media, the position of Army Headquarters is that soldiers have right to demand for proper weapons to prosecute the operations. However, the Federal Government was making concerted efforts toward deploying new fighting equipment to augment the existing ones in the Theartre of Operation.”
The statement berated the report that any soldier was owned of any operational allowances or any Allowance of kind in the Theartre.
It however restated the resolve of the Nigerian Army to always remain focused and determined to perform its constitutional roles and responsibilities professionally in the protection of the sovereignty of our nation and ensuring the safety of lives and property
