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The Nigerian Navy has declared six personnel whom it accused of deserting the service wanted.
The notice was issued in a signal containing the names of the deserters and exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters.
Topping the list is a senior officer, Commodore KC Ozokoye of the Nigerian Naval Dockyard (NAVDOC) headquarters.
Commodore is a one-star General in the Navy which is equivalent to Brigadier General in the Army and Air Commodore in the Air Force.
Other personnel declared as deserters and bound to face dire consequences if found are AS Ore, CC Ukpabio, TA Oladunjoye, AK Muhammad, TM Nweke.
Although no reason was given for the disappearance of the officers, SaharaReporters gathered that most of the personnel were serving on Naval Vessels on foreign missions.
In the signal dated September 6, 2024, the Naval authorities also directed that the payment of their salaries should stop.
This comes a few days after about 196 soldiers in the North-East and other theatres of operation applied to the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, for voluntary retirement.
Unconfirmed sources in the military told SaharaReporters that most of the soldiers resigning had indicated interest to join the military forces of other countries, including the British Army, Ukrainian Army, and other Commonwealth nations.
The soldiers, drawn from various formations of the army across the country, are all junior cadres.
The list of the exiting soldiers did not distinguish between those embarking on voluntary retirement and those leaving the army on medical grounds.
However, none of them had neither attained retirement age nor the mandatory years of service.
The approval of their voluntary disengagement dated August 23 was signed by Brigadier OH Musa.
There have been allegations of corruption in the Nigerian Army which some of the soldiers have blamed on the issue – soldiers overstaying in the North-East.
According to some soldiers, the army is the epitome of deep-seated corruption. They noted that the corruption is affecting the prosecution of the anti-terrorism war in the North-East.
They complained that they were being forced to confront Boko Haram militants, adding that their low morale and lack of willingness to continue to fight made it possible for terrorists to dislodge some military camps recently.
They complained of abandonment and accused the military authorities of keeping them on the war front beyond their approved period of stay.
However, the Nigerian Army has denied the allegations made by the military sources, saying the processes for voluntary retirement and discharge are clearly outlined in the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for both officers and soldiers.
A statement issued by Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, assured that these procedures are strictly adhered to, allowing personnel to retire only after fulfilling their service obligations.
He said, “This, therefore, provides that individuals are free and at liberty to disengage at will. The situation is the same as the Nigerian Army.
“Personnel are at liberty to disengage from time to time in accordance with laid down procedures
“Discharge from the Nigerian Army is routine and in line with laid down procedures.
“Only in an unorganised army would the discharge of personnel be handled haphazardly; hence, the compilation and release of names routinely, as must have been observed in the case of the Nigerian Army over the years.”
“This process allows for personnel who are about to either mandatorily or voluntarily disengage to adequately prepare and process entitlements, emoluments, pensions, and gratuity for the period of service to the nation,” he said.
Nwachukwu said the reasons for the discharge of personnel were confidential, as they range from voluntary disengagements, medical grounds, and pursuit of other professions of interest and endeavours, and community service, amongst others.