The pro-Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has appealed to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, to pay the entitlements of the 54 soldiers who received Presidential pardon in May 2022.
Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said in a statement on Monday morning that the 54 soldiers and their families have gone through untold suffering due to the nonpayment of their entitlement, almost three years after they had been pardoned.
A Nigerian Army court martial had sentenced the 54 soldiers to death for refusing to fight the terrorist group Boko Haram.
They were charged with mutiny and cowardice after they rioted in Maiduguri barracks and refused orders in August 2014 to help retake three towns held by the Islamist terrorists in Northeastern Borno State.
The soldiers, all members of the Army’s 7th Division based in Maiduguri, were to be executed by firing squad but their sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
The soldiers had complained that they were outgunned by Boko Haram and that they are often sent into battle without adequate supplies.
MURIC, in its statement of appeal said: “It will be recalled that 54 soldiers of the Nigerian Army were sentenced to death on 17th December 2014 for demanding better weapons to confront Boko Haram insurgents. Their death sentence was later commuted to ten years imprisonment on 19th December, 2015. The soldiers regained freedom seven years later on 17th August, 2021 and they were granted Presidential pardon on 11th May, 2022.
“First and foremost, MURIC wishes to appreciate the Nigerian Army for following due process throughout the travails of the 54 soldiers. It marks the institution out for diligence, decorum and adherence to professionalism.
“However, it is our wish to bring the sufferings of the 54 soldiers and members of their families to the attention of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede. It has been tales of woe for all of them.
“Their children have dropped out of school. Many of their matrimonial homes have scattered. Their octogenarian parents no longer cry: they just stare into the emptiness that the world has become for them. Nigeria’s current economic doldrum has worsened the situation for them. At least one of the soldiers has gone completely blind while the rest have been reduced to walking corpses and living dead.
“It is on this compassionate ground that we appeal to the COAS to show mercy to the 54 soldiers by approving the payment of their entitlements without further delay. Hearkening to this appeal will prove to Nigerians that the Nigerian Army has a truly human face. Young Nigerians will rush forward to join the Army and parents will feel no qualms encouraging their children and wards to don the Army garb with pride.”