How 16 Army Generals Were Unjustly Eased out of Service

…As interventions by Courts, Malami, NASS failed
Sixteen military Generals made up of nine Major Generals and seven Brigadier Generals ‘arbitrarily’ sacked by the Nigerian Army in 2016 have been technically eased out of the service.

This was in spite of the interventions of the Courts, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the two chambers of the National Assembly.

PRNigeria gathered that the affected generals have reached their run out date this year and cannot therefore not be reinstated into the military even after the resolutions of the National Assembly (NASS) and several courts ordered their reinstatements which were flagrantly ignored by the Nigerian Army.

The affected military generals were among the 38 Army Officers that were compulsorily retired on June 9, 2016 without any cogent reason.

The after officers included; Major Generals F. O. Alli, E.J. Atewe, I.N. Ijioma, L.C. Ilo, T.C. Ude, L. Wiwa, S.D. Aliyu, M.Y. Ibrahim and O. Ejemai while the Brigadier Generals were D. M. Onoyeiveta, A.S.O. Mormoni-Bashir, A.S.H Sa’ad, L.M. Bello, K.A. Essien, B. A. Fiboinumama and I. M. Lawson.

However, three of the Brigadier Generals namely; D. Abdusalam, A. I. Onibasa and G.O. Agachi can still be reinstated as they still have active years to go in service.

It was gathered that several attempts by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to resolve the impasse between the Army Generals and the military authorities were futile.

It was further gathered that the Army Council, then presided over by the trio of Mr. Mohammed Mansur Dan-Alli (then Minister for Defence), General AG Olonsakin (then Chief of Defence Staff) and Lt Gen TY Buratai (then Chief of Army Staff) sat and announced the compulsory retirement of the 38 Army officers.

The announcement of the compulsory retirement of the 38 officers was made via the media even before the affected officers were eventually informed by text messages of their retirement.

While announcing the compulsory retirement to the media, the Nigerian Army claimed that the 38 Army officers that were compulsorily retired have been investigated and found professionally corrupt in defence procurement and/or election-related offences in the 2015 General Elections.

But one of the sources, with vast knowledge on the case, maintained that none of the 38 Army Officers that were compulsorily retired was ever investigated or court-marshalled before their compulsory retirement.

The source, a senior serving military personnel, who asked not to be named, said: “None of the affected officers was ever at any time before their compulsory retirement queried, notified of any culpability, or subjected to any military police investigation and none was ever court-martialed – these are the mandatory disciplinary process in the military as recognized by law!

“The Army records will show that none of the 38 Army Officers that were compulsorily retired was ever charged with any infraction in accordance with expressed procedures in Armed Forces Act CAP A20, The Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”

Another source said that after their public retirement, many of the victimized officers wrote to the Army leadership under Lieutenant General Buratai, asking to be furnished with facts that constitute any alleged offense as stated in their respective letters of compulsory retirement, but regrettably, the Army failed to respond to the request over 5 years after.

It was also gathered that some of the affected officers petitioned both the Senate and the House of Representatives over their alleged victimization, a development that led the Public Petitions Committees to investigate the matter and were shocked that the Army could not provide any allegation of wrongdoing against the officers whose careers were cut short.

Interestingly, after their respective investigations of the matter, both Houses of the National Assembly admonished the Nigerian Army over arbitrary disengagement of officers without any wrongdoing and due process and warned that such abuse of office would discourage serving officers and soldiers from giving their full commitment to the service of the nation.

Accordingly, both chambers of the National Assembly recommended the immediate reinstatement of the affected officers through resolutions that were duly forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chief of Army Staff, but the resolutions of the National Assembly were ignored indicating a deliberate pattern of abuse against the affected officers.

Further checks by PRNigeria, indicated that after the refusal of the Nigerian Army to reinstate the officers based on the resolutions of the National Assembly and court orders, Malami, through the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, wrote letters and reminders to the military authorities in October 2019, November 2020 and even in February 2021 seeking clarification “over grave acts of injustice and unlawful compulsory retirement from service Senior Officers”.

In one of the letters, Malami reminded the Army Chief that he was yet to receive any response for the initial letter he sent, in order for him to advise Mr. President appropriately.