An Army General and former Infantry Commander, Jaji, Major General Mohammed Isa (rtd) whose request for extension of service was rejected after his retirement was due got security report of the Boko Haram bombing of the Defense and Staff College, Jaji but looked the other way, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika alleges.<\/p>\n
This is even as the Army Chief described the sponsors of the report of an alleged lopsided promotion in favor of a section of the country as faceless groups spreading deliberate falsehood in an attempt to destabilize the Army and create chaos in the country.<\/p>\n
Ihejirika said Isah had sought for extension of service at the point of retirement but that the Army Council, which approves such privileges for officers of his cadre, did not grant his request.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the point of retirement, Isah sought extension of service, saying that he still had much to offer the Army. But the Army Council did not sit before his retirement date was due\u201d, the COAS said.<\/p>\n
The Army chief said Isah failed to take the necessary precaution prior to the Jaji bombing, stressing that the former commandant was away at an Army conference in Asaba when he was supposed to be at his duty post, thereby leaving his flanks open.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsah did not take actions that he was supposed to have taken. He did not give instruction to his subordinates on what to do. Instead, he went to attend a conference in Asaba when there was trouble at his duty post.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the GOC 1 Division could not attend the conference as a result of the situation on ground. I was surprised to see Isah in Asaba and I made it clear to him that he was expected to be at his duty post instead of attending the conference\u201d, Ihejirika added.<\/p>\n
On the sponsors of the report of promotion and posting in the Army, Ihejirika said: \u201cThe motive of the writers appear to destabilize the Nigerian Army and negatively affect its cohesion thereby creating chaos in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a great disservice to the nation for anyone to choose through deliberate falsehood to link the routine activities of promotions and postings in the Nigerian Army with ethno-religious consideration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese faceless groups, if they had no ulterior motives, would have sought to air their grievances through official channels of communication which are available for redress by any genuinely aggrieved persons over any policy or actions of the Army.<\/p>\n
Insisting that the recent posting and promotion in the Army were done based on hard work and merit, against parochial interests that dictated the exercise in the past, he said: \u201cIt is however surprising that some few media chose to celebrate this calculated attempt by some frivolous, unpatriotic and unscrupulous elements aimed at insinuating that the recruitment, promotion, retirement and recent deployment of senior officers in the Nigerian Army were ethnically motivated. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no ethnic or religious consideration in this routine exercise in the Nigerian Army\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chief of Army Staff, however, admitted that delay in effecting the retirement of senior officers who are due for retirement might have been one of the reasons for misgivings in the Army.<\/p>\n
He attributed the delay to the fact that the Army Council that approves such retirements only sits quarterly and that some cases may not come up for review until it sits.<\/p>\n
Ihejirika also said a policy he introduced when he became the Army chief may have inadvertently be responsible for the recent unsavoury developments in the Army.<\/p>\n
The thrust of the policy is that senior officers whose promotion coincides with their retirements are always allowed to get their promotion, which automatically extends their retirement dates for a few months for them to enjoy their promotion.<\/p>\n
The former Minister of Defence, Dr. Mohammed Bello Haliru, he said, approved the policy.<\/p>\n
The Army chief said those that attacked the convoy of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero in January had been arrested, adding that three assault riffles were recovered from the house of one of the suspects when security agents searched his residence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Army General and former Infantry Commander, Jaji, Major General Mohammed Isa (rtd) whose request for extension of service was rejected after his retirement was due got security report of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n