JTF Soldiers In Maiduguri Accuses Senior Officers of Slashing Their Allowance And Short-changing Them

By SaharaReporters, New York

Soldiers in the Joint Task Force in Borno State, who have been battling with the Boko Haram sect in the troubled town of Maiduguri, have accused some senior military officers of underhanded management practices in the course of the operations.   They allege that the senior officers have been diverting, slashing and short-changing their allowances.
The allegations are contained in a detailed press statement sent to SaharaReporters, in which they seek to draw the attention of the Minister of Defence, the National Assembly and the National Security Adviser to what is going on.  They also urge them to direct the Chief of Army Staff to rotate them so they can travel and see their families.
The statement reads, “The increased insecurity in the country particularly Maiduguri the North Eastern part of Nigeria, has drawn many soldiers out of barracks to perform their legitimate duties for their fatherland but Nigerian Army which provide larger number of soldiers of its personnel are in low morale as the sources from the highest authority of Army said it has no money to rotate them. Before the inception of Joint Task Force in Maiduguri many soldiers had been deployed since operation FLUSH OUT II.
However, most of these angry soldiers, which were drawn from different parts of the country, have done one year six months now without rotation from the higher authorities or even to see their families in their various barracks.  By June 12 the JTF will mark one full year it existence in Maiduguri as deadly Islamic Sect called Boko Haram has made Maiduguri a basic home of its operation.
“Some land soldiers who were deployed to the state before the creation of the task force, remained in the Borno about a year later even after the other Armed Forces have rotated their men twice. Most of us left our family because of one operation or other has done good two years now without settling down with our family. And the negative impact of this long  stay away from the family is affecting the operation. We plead with the Minister of Defence, Senate Committee on Defence and the National Security Adviser to direct the Chief of Army Staff to rotate the soldiers that have over stayed in Maiduguri and also take the matter of soldiers in the JTF welfare serious