227 Soldiers Protest Their Dismissal By 3 Armoured Division

NO fewer than 227 soldiers who were allegedly dismissed by the military authorities who were from the 3 Armoured Division in Jos Friday protested against their General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Armored Division, asking for the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan.

  The protesting soldiers who stormed the Plateau State NUJ Secretariat in Jos with placards, said they were unjustly dismissed without any known offence and without the benefit of fair hearing.

   Leader of the protesting soldiers, Sergeant Abiona Elisha, said: “We were dismissed this week Tuesday from the service of the Nigerian Army after sending us to go and suffer fighting insurgency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.

    “All of a sudden, we were recalled to the barracks and made to face trial. Even at the trial, we were not given the chance to defend ourselves. They just took decision and dismissed us. We were not even told what were our offences during the so-called trial.

    “We are surprised that we can be treated like this in our own country. We were sent to fight insurgents without weapons. A lot of our colleagues were killed in the course of defending our fatherland. Even those who are in hospitals treating injuries they sustained from battlefields were also dismissed while still on hospital admission.

    “The worst situation is that families of our colleagues killed in Adamawa and Yobe are languishing in hunger as the Nigerian Army refused to pay their entitlements.

  “So we are calling on President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, to intervene in our case and reinstate us.”

  When contacted for comments, Deputy Director of the 3 Armoured Division Jos, Col. Texas Chukwu, said: “I am not aware of the development. I just returned from Yola on Tuesday. So I am not aware of anything.”