House of Reps confirms mass resignation of soldiers

The House of Representatives has confirmed media reports that there has been mass resignation of soldiers in the Nigerian Army.

A total of 356 troops of the Nigerian Army were reported to have resigned from the service in July 2020, but military authorities denied it.

It was reported that findings of the House committee on the army made public on Tuesday, March 2 indicate that the reports were authentic.

To stem the tide, lawmakers in the green chambers called for improved welfare for troops and effective delivery of welfare packages across the ranks of the Nigerian Army.

They shared their thoughts on the issue during plenary after the chairman of the committee, Abdulrazak Namdas presented the report.

Namdas, however, stated that it was not new for such resignations to happen as it occurred almost annually in the military.

According to him, the recommendations of the report were based on the fact that the soldiers that resigned were mostly citing poor welfare as being the main reason for wanting to leave the service of the army.

He stressed the need for the Nigerian government to ensure military personnel were well motivated to defend the nation’s territory and overcome security threats both home or abroad.

Part of the recommendations of the report read:

“That there should be effective monitoring or follow up in the delivery of the welfare packages in all the army formations to ensure that they reach out to all the beneficiaries (the soldiers) in a fair and equitable manner.”