Dismissed officers petition FG for reinstatement into Nigerian Army

Some officers dismissed from the Nigerian Army have demanded their reinstatement and the payment of their salaries in a letter of appeal to the Federal Government.

The officers, 38 in number, including Danladi Hassan, a colonel, were dismissed in 2016 without being charged by a court martial or found guilty of any offence under the Armed Forces extant rules and regulations.

Their letter of appeal, dated December 5, was written by Falana and Falana’s Chamber and addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.

The law firm said,“Without any basis, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Army Staff at the material time, alleged in the media that our clients were professionally corrupt and that they were punished after due process.”

The law firm said an initial petition forwarded to the military leadership was ignored, leaving the officers with no option but to vent their grievances to the National Assembly. At the same time, seven of them sought legal redress at the National Industrial Court.

The National Industrial Court ordered the reinstatement of the seven officers and the payment of their outstanding salaries after declaring their compulsory retirement illegal.

“Even though the judgments delivered in favour of the seven claimants by the National Industrial Court were not challenged at the Court of Appeal, the authorities of the Nigerian Army have refused to comply with the terms of the judgments despite several requests made by our clients,” the law firm added.

The law firm noted that the right to appeal against the judgement had expired since they were not challenged between 2019 and 2021.

A similar step taken by Hassan on January 8, 2019, also resulted in a favourable ruling by the National Industrial Court and an appeal by the Nigerian Army challenging the ruling failed.

In response, the Nigerian Army issued a letter dated October 07, 2022, stating that “Colonel Hassan is no longer promotable and will not be 100% loyal to his juniors who have since been promoted as Generals in the Nigerian Army.”

The law firm said the Nigerian Army, however, reinstated Ahmad Muhammed, a Major-General, I. 2016, while citing “broken service experience” as the reason for not reinstating Hassan despite a court order.

Two of the 38 officers — Chidi Ukoha and Osita Nwankwo — approached the Senate and House of Representatives to seek redress, and both chambers independently investigated their petitions and respectively observed that there was no basis for their compulsory retirement and therefore recommended their reinstatement.

According to Falana and Falana’s Chamber, the Nigerian Army ignored the National Assembly’s resolution.

The law firm pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to use his office to direct the authorities of the Nigerian Army to implement the judgments of the National Industrial Court and the Court of Appeal as well as the resolutions of the National Assembly on the subject matter.

The law firm demanded the immediate reinstatement of all the listed officers into the Nigerian Army with effect from June 2016.