23rd December, 2024
PRESS RELEASE:
TIME TO PAY 54 SOLDIERS: MURIC APPEALS TO COAS
An appeal has gone to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.
Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, to pay the entitlements of the 54 soldiers who received
presidential pardon in May 2022.
Making the appeal on Monday, 23rd December,
2024, the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor
Ishaq Akintola, told the COAS that the soldiers and their families have gone
through untold suffering due to the nonpayment of their entitlement almost
three years after they had been pardoned.
MURIC’s full statement reads:
“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 (https://thenationonlineng.net/mutiny-54-soldiers-face-firing-squad-five-freed/;
https://www.voanews.com/a/nigerian-soldiers-sentenced-death-mutiny/2563715.html).
“Their death sentence was later commuted to ten
years imprisonment on 19th December, 2015 (https://thestreetjournal.org/army-commute-death-sentences-on-66-officers-to-imprisonment/).
“The soldiers regained freedom seven years later
on 17th August, 2021 (https://saharareporters.com/2021/08/17/54-nigerian-soldiers-jailed-demanding-better-arms-regain-freedom-after-seven-years)
and they were granted presidential pardon on 11th May, 2022 (https://theeagleonline.com.ng/muric-thanks-buhari-for-granting-pardon-to-54-soldiers/).
“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.”
#NigerianArmy
#ChiefOfArmyStaff
#Approve54SoldiersEntitlements
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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