The Nigerians Army says it will deal decisively with personnel who use the social media to engage the authorities.
The threat is coming due to rejection of the Nigerian Army Welfare Housing Scheme (NAWHS) by Non Commissioned Officers (NCO) and Senior Non Commissioned Officers (SNCO).
In an open letter to President Muhamamadu Buhari and co-signed by 05NA/57/2084 SGT Yusuf Shetima, 04NA/55/0925 CPL James Ibok, 09NA/62/5578 LCPL Danladi Ibrahim,11NA/66/10622 LCPL Afolabi Showumi and 13NA/70/11034 PTE Lucky Dolph, soldiers accused the Commissioned Officers of “eating fat”, while they starved.
In the letter, the soldiers alleged that there was a plan to deduct some amounts of money from their salaries on a monthly basis for a proposed Nigerian Army Welfare Housing Scheme.
They however described the scheme as a fraud and an attempt by the Army authorities to further impoverish them while they continue to live large.
“After this deduction, they still want us to feed and also buy our military uniforms from the remaining change,” the soldiers said.
Howeve, army spokesperson, Brig.-General Mohammed Yerima, in a statement, said members of the Nigerian Army have established mechanisms of responding to administrative issues and not through social media.
Yerima claimed that the signatories to the petition were fictitious and numbers non-existent in the Nigerian Army records.
“That the current Chief of Army Staff met an Army Housing Scheme in the pipeline and constituted a Committee to understudy its feasibility and desireability. Questionnaire was subsequently designed by the Committee for soldiers to bare their minds on the scheme and to ascertain those who are interested in it,” the statement said.
“It was still at this stage of administering the questionnaire to soldiers that agent provocateurs seized the moment to demonize the scheme with toxic narratives.
“Any personnel caught using social media to engage the authorities will be severely dealt with.”