Some ex-Nigerian soldiers, who served in the United Nations Mission in Liberia, have called on the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to review their compulsory retirement and reinstate them.
Some of the ex-soldiers were those retired for allegedly participating in mutiny after staging a protest in Akure over non-payment of their entitlements by the authorities of the Nigerian Army, spoke to our correspondent in Osogbo on the telephone on Sunday.
The former UN peacekeepers staged a protest in Akure in 2008 when their entitlements including their savings were not paid on their return from the peacekeeping operation in Liberia.
One of the soldiers, Yomi Ibukun, who was a lance corporal before they were sacked, said that it was not appropriate to render young male and female soldiers, who had been trained to handle guns, jobless.
Ibukun said three of the ex-UN soldiers given compulsory retirement; Paul Maikudi (corporal); Pascal Stephen (lance corporal) and Kabiru Mohammed (private) had died.
Another ex-soldier, Abass Salisu, who was a corporal, said that all of them were young and their skills were still needed by the military.
He lamented the alleged injustice done to them, saying the victims of the injustice would be grateful if they could be reinstated.
Ibukun said, “We thank God that Gen. Buhari eventually won the presidential election. The President-elect is a former military officer and he would appreciate our case if it is brought before him.
“We are appealing to him to correct the injustice done to 27 of us. Some senior officers refused to pay us our entitlements during our operations in Liberia and they sentenced us to life imprisonment after the protest.
“The sentence was commuted to seven years imprisonment before we were freed but later compulsorily retired.
“It is sad because while those of us whose entitlements were stolen were punished and retired, the officers who stole our money suffered loss of ranks temporarily but they had since been restored to their old ranks.”
Musa Salisu, who was a corporal before he was compulsory retired, said the authorities paid part of the entitlements which led to the protest and had refused to pay the balance despite the punishment meted out to them.
Salisu said, “I want them to compensate us. We are looking up to Gen. Buhari to look into our case. He has been a soldier and he would appreciate the enormity of the injustice done to us.”
The 27 soldiers, drawn from different military formations in the country, were part of the 850 members of the 15th Battalion of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission sent to Liberia between September 2007 and April 2008.
The soldiers comprising 24 males and three females were sentenced to life imprisonment on April 27, 2009 by the Military Court Martial which sat in Akure and headed by Big. Gen. Ishaya Bauka.
They were said to have, between July 4 and 5, 2008 at 312 Artillery Regiment, Akure, Ondo State, protested the non-payment of their UN allowances after returning from Liberia.
Those convicted by the court martial include three females, namely Private Yetunde Olanihun, Mary Idoko and Esther Nkawor. The men include Sgt. Oliver Akwara, Cpl. Princewill Onwunari, Cpl. Abass Saliu, Cpl. Paul Maikudi, Lance Corporal Umar Abdukadir, Musa Salisu. Paschal Steven, Ibrahim Yusuf, Loveday Nnamdi, Yomi Ibukun, Bello Zaharadeen, Okani Pope, Wanogho Shadrack, Lawal Abubakar, Innocent Egbuna and John Felix.
The rest are Kabiru Mohammed, Chukwudi Onwukanjo, Samuel Ogbe, Jonathan Komo, Adaraloye Olalekan, Salisu Ibrahim, Anthogah Jonathan and Kelechi Anukan.
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