Army To Investigate Borno Governor’s Allegation That Soldiers Collect N1,000 At Check Points

The Nigerian Army has said it will thoroughly investigate allegations made by Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum that soldiers in the state were collecting 1,000 naira from motorists.

Zulum had on Monday expressed outburst at the extortion spree of motorists on a checkpoint at the Maiduguri/Damaturu road in the state.

The army said it will not cover any act of misconduct levelled against its personnel.

In a statement issued by Army Spokesperson, Col Aminu Ilyasu, the force assured Nigerians in the northeast war theatre that it would investigate and get to the bottom of the allegation of extortion levelled against its personnel.

“The Nigerian Army as a professional and disciplined institution views such allegations seriously, particularly coming from a State Executive.” He noted.

He revealed that “It is on record that, whenever such allegations of troops’ misconduct were made in the past, the Nigerian Army never reneged in conducting thorough investigations to establish them and where any infractions were established against any personnel, appropriate sanctions were applied in line with extant rules and regulations as provided for in the Armed Forces Act CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

“Thus, the Nigerian Army wishes to assure the good people of Borno State and indeed the nation at large that any allegations of misconduct by Nigerian Army troops will be duly investigated and culprits will be dealt with accordingly.

“However, it is important to unequivocally observe that public outburst, particularly by eminent personalities such as a State Executive, could be counterproductive and indeed capable of reversing the gains recorded so far in the ongoing fight against insurgents and other criminal elements across the nation.

“The Nigerian Army wishes to emphatically reiterate its steadfastness on the protection of lives, properties of all law-abiding citizens as it is committed to wiping out insurgency in the North East and other forms of criminality across the country.

“Additionally, citizens’ continuous support and cooperation are highly appreciated. Any observed misconduct by troops could be reported directly through a toll – free code 193 for immediate remedy.”

The Governor had actually arrived quietly and waited in the long queue for others to go before he crossed and in the process watched as people without the national identity card paid their way through the checkpoint.

The military in a bid to stop foreign agents of ISIs from traversing through the theatre had insisted on people identify themselves before crossing to any part of the country.

This became pertinent because the immigration whose strategic job it was to handle that had only one checkpoint along the Maiduguri Damaturu axis and we’re therefore very ineffective in carrying out the job.