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The soldiers may not come back home soon.
After months of hardship caused by inadequate provision of basic essentials and non-payment of allowances, the horrible condition of Nigerian troops serving as part of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, AFISMA, is beginning to give way for improved welfare, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
According to defence sources, the troops have been paid two months arrears out of the three months arrears they were previously owed. Their nutrition has also improved as our source said they are now adequately fed. This is a departure from the days when they resorted to soliciting for food from their host community and having to make to do with eating plain boiled spaghetti.
The military blamed the initial hiccup experienced in delivering the provisions on time on bureaucratic bottleneck.
“I’m not in the mission but I know that the condition for feeding and everything have been a victim of the bureaucracy I told you about,” said Chris Olukolade, Director for Defence Information.
While denying that a percentage of the troops allowances has been unscrupulously deducted, Mr. Olukolade said it is the practice of the military to save part of the allowances of soldiers on international assignment and that this would eventually be paid to them at the end of their tour.
“It not a case of anyone trying to deny them their allowances, they are aware that some part of their allowances is being kept for them in savings. It is a norm that they are aware of, it is their property, which nobody will deny them at the end of the mission; it is in their name. Nobody can steal one kobo of that from them,” he said.
Homecoming not in sight
Mr. Olukolade, however, said that no date has been fixed for the troops to return home despite completing the initial six months period of the mission. He said that the decision is subject to an on-going discussion between politicians and international organisations.
Many of the Nigerian soldiers have complained of being left in Mali for more than the six months they were promised, saying their families were suffering back home.
“There is a lot going on in the diplomatic circus now which I may not be in the position to comment on right now until this is settled at the realm of political leadership and international organizations involved in the mission,”Mr. Olukolade stated.
Meanwhile, some officers of the Nigerian Army have called to thank PREMIUM TIMES for its consistent reporting on the suffering of Nigerian soldiers in Army.
“Thanks for your efforts so far,” a military source in Abuja said in a message to this newspaper. “It has been very helpful. Our troops would have continued to go through hell if not for your publications.”
This paper had in a series of articles reported how troops were poorly fed, and owed allowances. In one particularly embarrassing case, we reported how the situation of the troops got so dire that they resorted to soliciting food from their host community.
Last February, the Prefect of Tuban in the Banamga region of Mali gave them 50 bags of rice and a cow. The army said it did not solicit for the food item. It claimed it was merely a gift from an appreciative host.
In June, we reported that the troops were owed up to three months unpaid allowances. Immediately after our report, the defence headquarters summoned the the contingent’s financial officer, Captain R.M. Okenwa to Abuja. He returned to Bamako on June 3o with two-month allowances for the soldiers as well as several bags of rice and garri.
In one instance, the military resorted to threat to quieten our reportage of the troops austere situation. A certain Major General Ugor called this reporter and threatened to arrest him if he refused to disclose his sources.
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