The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah has denied claims that the Army was planning to recall 10,000 retired soldiers and ex-Niger Delta militants to boost the fight against insurgency in the north-eastern part of the country.
Minimah who disclosed this shortly after the commissioning of the Radio Diagnosis Centre of the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, yesterday asked Nigerians to discard such rumour, noting that the Nigerian military had the full capacity to rout out the terrorists.
The COAS refused to speak further on the issue but declared: “It is not true. It is a blatant lie.”
Speaking earlier at the commissioning of the ultra-modern Reference Hospital, Minimah said the authorities of the Nigerian Army upgraded the hospital to level four international standard given the nation’s contributions to peacekeeping across the world.
He said with the upgrade of the 300-bed hospital and the commissioning of the radio diagnosis centre, the Nigerian Army had fulfilled one of the requirements of meeting best international standard of troops, adding that it was part of efforts to boost the health and welfare of military personnel and their civilian counterparts.
According to him, the Nigerian Army was committed to the healthcare of its troops and members of their families as well as the public, adding that the commissioning of the centre was yet another evidence of the current administration’s effort to strengthen the delivery of services.
It could be recalled that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) had on Thursday in Kaduna warned the Army authorities against using ex-militants who had benefitted from the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s amnesty programme to fight Boko Haram insurgents in some part of the north.
The Forum, through its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim, had explained that it had it on good authority that the Army had plans to recall 10, 000 retired soldiers back to service to fight terrorists.
ACF said: “It has been brought to the knowledge of the ACF that the Federal Government has authorised the reinstatement of 10,000 retired soldiers back into the Nigeria Army. This in the wisdom of government is to boost the strength of the military to confront the insurgency that has engulfed the country.
“ACF particularly advises that those who have never been in the military and therefore, cannot be re-instated or recalled should be precluded from the exercise. Also, ex-militants, who after receiving formal training as part of Amnesty granted by late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s benevolence, should not be considered to benefit from the exercise.”
