The story of the poor handling of the welfare of soldiers at war front attached to 154 TF BN Ngamdu is an embarrassing one and a dent in the image of the Nigerian State. Though, it is not surprising to those familiar with the poor welfare package Nigerian security officers receive.
But, this particular story is disturbing. You cannot talk about raising the morale of soldiers at war when they are not receiving decent meals and proper medical care when injured. They are meant to be treated with utmost respect and given attention, which will make them believe that truly their country has not abandoned them. Unfortunately, the treatment being meted on them is nothing to write home about.
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The same Commander of 154 TF BN Ngamdu, Lt. Col. A. A. Buba, ordered Corporal Sunday Okediran, the soldier through whom the story became a public discourse, to be locked up in the guardroom. This is the most embarrassing part of it, considering that Lt. Col. A. A. Buba does not take proper care of soldiers in his care. He is further dampening the morale of officers with such a distasteful act. He obviously lacks the ability to manage officers in the field.
It is really shameful that there is no medium through which the top echelon in the Army investigate happenings on the battlefield. I am saying this based on the background that this is not the first time soldiers will complain of inhumane treatment on the battlefield. Meanwhile, these people have rights too and, the last time I checked, the Constitution provides that NO one should be subject to inhumane treatment. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in the Nigerian Army.
The soldiers attached to Operation Lafiya Dole in Adamawa State, who were later advanced to Madagali and Limankara in Borno State, lodged a complaint of poor welfare at the battlefield in the hands of their Commanders, and as a result, these same Commanders ordered that the soldiers be locked up in the guardroom rather than improve their welfare. Their offense? They dared to talk. It was reported on Punch Newspaper of 5th October, 2019.
If Corporal Sunday Okediran had not spoken up about the worsening conditions of our troops fighting against Boko Haram, ISWAP and other terrorist groups advancing from Cameroon, no one would have known what our soldiers are experiencing on the battlefield. Meanwhile, with his story, he has instigated an action from the Chief of Army Staff thereby saving thousands of soldiers in the North Eastern part of the country from being starved to death. Nigeria must protect him and not let him be confined to the guard room where he is currently locked up on the order of their Commander.
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No doubt, the criminal negligence in the Army has eaten so deep to the extent that they have not been paid their operational allowances while the injured ones do not have access to quality medical care. In fact, I have it on good authority that a lot of our soldiers have died at warfront because of the inability to get proper medical care once they get injured. Our soldiers on the battlefield even purchase uniforms and shoes with their own money. It is that bad.
The Nigerian Army Headquarters and, indeed, the Nigerian State must not turn deaf ears to the ghost stories coming from troops in the war-ridden North East. Those stories are of reckless abandonment, which should not be happening.
The truth is, the Nigerian military operations show signs of poor welfare, despite the discomfort of the military authority with the leaked stories. There should be a feedback channel through which soldiers at war front could communicate to higher authority and the military must be cleaned up of corrupt officers like Lt. Col. A. A. Buba who has even ordered that the patriotic Corporal Okediran be locked up. The patriotism of our soldiers must not be taken for granted!
The President should not just sit idle in Abuja without addressing this latest scandal in the Army. The true situation of events as being witnessed by troops at the warfront must be thoroughly investigated and Commanders who are found wanting, most especially this particular Lt. Col. A. A. Buba must be relieved of their duties and be made to face the consequences of demoralising the officers under him by making them go through unwanted hardship.
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The entire Nigerian people do not expect our soldiers to go to warfront dispirited. They are humans too!
Israel writes from Ìbàdàn, Nigeria.
