The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, confirmed that three hundred and eighty-six soldiers have resigned from the Nigerian Army in the second quarter of 2020, which is well over the three hundred and sixty-five figures previously assumed.
The House, however, stated that the resignations were not related to the ongoing war against insurgency in the North-East.
On July 12, 2020, no fewer than three hundred and fifty-six soldiers in the North-East and other Theatres of operation, applied to the then chief of army staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, for voluntary retirement, citing loss of interest as their reason for disengagement.
The majority of the soldiers were from the North-East theatre of operation, a development which military sources attributed to the loss of morale, poor weapons, unimproved allowances and the continuous loss of soldiers to Boko Haram attacks.
The approval of the voluntary disengagement of the three hundred and fifty-six soldiers was contained in a seventeen-page circular from Buratai, signed by Brigadier Geneneral T.E. Gagariga for the Army chief.
Consequently, the House has resolved to investigate the alleged mass exodus of soldiers from the Nigerian Army.
At the plenary on Tuesday, the House considered and adopted a report by the committee on Army, chaired by Mr Abdlrazak Namdas.
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to improve surveillance and control around the nation’s borders.
Giving his speech at the virtual commissioning ceremony of the NIS Technology Building on Thursday in Abuja, he urged the NIS to collaborate with international security organisations such as INTERPOL in safeguarding the borders.
The President asked the service to ensure that criminal elements do not find Nigeria as a safe haven to hide and perpetrate their criminality.
He also instructed all security agencies to raise their performance in protecting lives and property, with a mandate that the nation’s Global Security Index must be improved.
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