The Nigerian Army has stopped taking requests for Voluntary Retirement from solders even in the face of a Boko Haram onslaught in the Northeast.
This was contained in an internal memo which said the rate of voluntary retirement applications had become disheartening.
According to the memo which was allegedly circulated in March, all forms 9B (military retirement application) has been suspended and will no longer be available for soldiers who want to leave the service.
See Also: How Indian-owned Lagos hospital allegedly exposes staff, public to coronavirus
The memo warned officers and men of the Nigeria Army to desist from sending in retirement applications that are allowed to fly through the chain of command when they should have been rejected.
A report by the Premium Times say this is an attempt by Nigerian Army authorities to curb the rate of voluntary retirement because soldiers were leaving in droves.
“Our men are giving up on the war for many reasons that are not limited to poor equipment supplies and the lack of empathy they keep seeing from their top commanders,”
“The soldiers have been asked over and again to remain in service for the defence of their fatherland, but their hope has been waning.”
A military source said.
It was learned that many of the soldiers who sent in their retirement applications have served multiple tours fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria’s restive Northeast.
“Many of them have been trapped in the northeast for years and they just want to return to their families and look for another career path away from the military,” the source continued.
The directive is already being implemented in Nigerian Army formations across the country like the 29 Battalion based in Port-harcourt which is a part of the Army 6 division.
This division has suffered the biggest personnel loss in the Army since the war against Boko Haram began 11 years ago.
Reacting to the news however, several soldiers have petitioned Army headquarters about the decision to suspend voluntary retirement.
An open letter, signed by a Lance corporal written to the Army Chief, Tukur Buratai was circulated on WhatsApp by soldiers.
Excerpts from the letter read:
A soldier who voluntarily joined the service without any duress is now being compelled to remain in the service even against his wish,”
With all due respect sir, this is unacceptable.
The military can only invite a soldier filing for retirement “for interview, guidance and counselling or career review,” but cannot block it “if the soldier insisted” on proceeding with the retirement “application.”
Leave a Reply