Some soldiers of the Nigerian Army have cried out over their unpaid allowances for taking part in border patrol since 2021.
The soldiers, who disclosed that they are being owed allowances from January 2021 to May 2021, said the army and Nigerian Government had refused to address their plight despite several efforts to bring their situation to their notice.
“Soldiers’ operational allowances under border patrol and Operation Swift Response and border drill should be paid.
“The troops are owed from January to May 2021, when they were withdrawn. The border patrol is a combined operation with customs, police, immigration, DSS (Department of State Services) and army.
“It is very unfair that after working hard for over a year the government has refused to pay us our allowances.
“This is what we soldiers suffer from a country we have sworn to die for.
“We are also seeing how politicians feed fat and forget to fight for the right cause after sharing money. One day the story will change. Please pay our allowances; we are crying out. It is very dangerous to owe soldiers please,” one aggrieved soldier said.
Another soldier, who spoke with SaharaReporters over the issue, disclosed that many of them have died of diseases as a result of lack of funds while some others are currently struggling with difficulty in paying for accommodation and taking care of their families.
“Soldiers are feeding themselves and struggling to pay for accommodation. Some soldiers died from chronic diseases because they had no money to travel for treatment.
“Before we were withdrawn in May 2021, we were assured of receiving payment but nothing has been done since that period.
“The Nigerian Army and government should have pity on soldiers because we have children to take care of. We have family that rely on us and we manage our small salaries, we don’t complain.
“Our allowances have been delayed for too long since 2021. It is not fair on us for all the services we have rendered to Nigeria. We need our money because we and our families are hungry,” the military personnel said.
Nigeria has been struggling to keep its borders safe from Boko Haram terrorists, among others.
SAHARAREPORTERS
