The Nigerian Army’s 7 Division, which is fighting Boko Haram and other criminal elements in the North East, has denied reports of corruption and neglect of troop welfare.
This was stated in a press release signed by Major Adamu Umar, Acting Deputy Director Army Public Relations, 7 Division Nigerian Army.
He said, “The attention of 7 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to an online malicious and misinforming report published by an online medium (not Vanguard) on 22 December 2022 against the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Waidi Shaibu.
“The Division hereby wishes to state that the report is false, untrue and misleading and will respond to the contents without joining issues with the anti-establishment agent.
“Analyzing the contents of the malignant report, it is obvious that the so called source was spiteful for having missed out of the recent special promotion exercise and the allegations shows smack of ignorance on all issues raised therein.
“Hence the response of the Division will be educative in outlook and align with that of luminary minds like Anthony Kennedy who posited that the remedy for false speech is a speech that is true while the response to an uninformed article is the enlightened piece and to a straight out lie is a simple truth.
“Firstly, the so called uninformed source raised the issue of lopsided promotion and special promotion which according to his limited understanding do not have any criteria such as trade, courses or date of last promotion. The simple truth is that promotion of soldiers in the Nigerian Army is done in line with the Nigerian Army Administrative Policies and Procedures 2015 (Revised) as stipulated in Chapter 7 (pages 31 to 33).
“It is pertinent to state that vacancies are allotted to formations and units by Army Headquarters Department of Army Administration and no commander has arbitrary powers to adjust such allocations. On the issue of special promotion, the criteria are also contained in the aforementioned document on page 33 para 6 (a-d) which includes Trade Classification, Gallantry, Citation and Establishment. Hence the special promotion was done in line with these criteria in a transparent manner and all formations and units under command were directed to abide strictly with the criteria.
“Secondly, the misguided source alleged lack of drugs at 7 Division Hospital. This is far from the truth, as 7 Division Medical Service and Hospital is well equipped with contemporary medical facilities and is being managed by professional military and civil medical doctors with adequate drugs administered to all patients. Unknown to the unapprised source, the Division has a monitoring and transparent feedback mechanism for ensuring drugs are properly administered at the hospital.
“Apart from the detailed log book which documents all patients who report sick and drugs administered to them, a CCTV is also installed at the pharmacy which records the activities and the dispensing of drugs at any point in time. Pertinent to state, that the CCTV Camera was recently upgraded to record voice – the HIK Vision Turbo High Definition Audio Camera. In essence, there are measures in place to monitor and prevent the issues raised in the malignant report as it relates to drug administration in the hospital.
“Thirdly, the false report myopically questioned meetings with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) without realizing that there are various lines of effort, including the humanitarian line in the management of complex security challenges such as the ongoing insurgency in the North East, which often requires a whole of society approach.
“Therefore, these international NGOs mostly interface with the military through the Headquarters Theater Command for all their activities. The latest of such call on the GOC was the United Nations – Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) Team that came to make presentation on the planned decongestion of Internally Displaced Persons Camps in DIKWA, GAMBORU, NGALA and BANKI towns.
“The presentation was premised on the need to seek the GOC’s guidance on the security implications of selected sites for the construction of accommodation in the mentioned towns. The Division appreciates the special skills of reputable NGOs and sees them as partners, therefore, the allegation of the GOC fraternizing with NGOs shows smacks of ignorance on the part of the misguided source.
“The allegation of involvement with politicians to say the least is absurd and unfounded. The GOC is a seasoned and very professional senior officer in the discharge of his duties and does not in any way associate himself with politics of governance. Rather, he is more committed to issues of national security as he discharges his duty professionally in line with the mandate of Operation HADIN KAI and the Nigerian Army in general.
“As part of his routine activities the GOC frequently carries out Operational visits to formations and units under his command, to ensure operational efficiency which is necessary to achieve maximum security. For the records, it is important to state that Durbar is a parade in the Nigerian Army and is mandatory for all formations and units under command to routinely conduct durbar with soldiers once a month and forward the durbar report for the GOC’s perusal and necessary directives. In essence, the uninformed source is not familiar with the procedures for conduct of durbars in the Nigerian Army.
“Finally, the Division wishes to assure the general public that it will continue to uphold the high standards for which it is known and will not be distracted by unscrupulous misinformation campaigns orchestrated by anti-establishment agents. We therefore urge well-meaning Nigerians to disregard the campaign of calumny and continue to support the Division in its fight against the insurgency in the North East.” Major Umar stated.