SAN FRANCISCO, August 26, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Army has declared that it will punish the soldiers who blocked Maiduguri Airport over suspicions that they were going to be deployed to the battle front against Boko Haram.
This was stated by Maj.Gen. Abbah Dikko, Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, who declared that the military will not condone any act of mutiny by soldiers fighting Boko Haram.
“We don’t punish in the military. We discipline. Discipline is the bedrock of the job. If there’s no discipline, then we can’t have an army. So if a soldier errs, he must be corrected”, Dikko said at an event in Maiduguri today.
THEWILL recalls that two weeks ago, riotous troops, who claimed they had overstayed in Borno state blocked the airport for at least two hours, to resist fresh deployment to Boko Haram fronts.
The Nigerian Army later described them as ‘unscrupulous”.
Dikko, speaking during a lunch at the Maiduguri Military Command Center on Saturday condemned the act of mutiny under any guise, maintaining that the law and ethics which the Nigerian Army is guided by would take its full course on errant soldiers.
He reminded the soldiers of their oath of recruitment pointing out that they voluntarily joined the military and as such must be disciplined.
“You have decided to put your life on the line for the territorial integrity of Nigeria. So it is very important that we are reminded of our roles and responsibilities to the nation and our responsibility to the society, most importantly our responsibility to ourselves because we are not a conscript army. We are a regular military,” he said.
“Those who have volunteered to serve and that is the only time you will volunteer, subsequently having offered your service, it is the responsibility of the services to deploy you where they find you appropriate.
“So it is important that we continue to retain our professional comportment so that we can serve diligently. It’s important that we uphold the values and ethics of the system that we belong to,”said Dikko.
“It is also important that we understand it is a service to our fatherland. It is not a service to ourselves.
“The bedrock of your service as a soldier is discipline. A soldier must remain disciplined at all times. A soldier must obey instructions.”
On the fate of soldiers who protested at the Maiduguri International Airport, Dikko said they would be disciplined in accordance with military laws.
“We don’t punish in the military. We discipline. Discipline is the bedrock of the job. If there’s no discipline, then we can’t have an army. So if a soldier errs, he must be corrected.
“We are focused and doing what we are supposed to do in order to finish the assignment that we’re given. No matter what it takes, we’ll do it professionally. Everybody is motivated and well catered for.
“There are some that are not here and you don’t know what they’re going through. You cannot say you’ve heard them complaining that they’re not in the townships. Some are in locations that are out of reach. So we must understand the difficult times we find ourselves,” said Dikko.
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