Boko Haram: Soldiers’ wives face probe over protests

The army authorities are investigating the circumstances that led to a protest by wives of soldiers in Enugu State during the week over their husbands’ posting.
Informed military sources disclosed to Saturday Tribune that  wives of soldiers of 103 battalion based in Enugu  protested in the barracks on the posting of their husbands to Borno and Yobe states to join in the war against insurgency.

The source revealed that the women, numbering over 200, protested throughout Sunday, asking the army authorities to bring back their husbands.
According to the source, the women claimed that their husbands did not join the army to die and leave them as widows and their children fatherless.
It was gathered that  authorities of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu had to inform the women that their husbands were safe and alive before frayed nerves could be calmed.
Saturday Tribune investigation revealed that the women claimed to have written series of letters to the army authorities to bring back their husbands to them but got no response, hence they had to embark on the protest to call the attention of the authorities to their husbands’ plight.
Saturday Tribune gathered from the top military source that the trouble started following text messages being sent by the soldiers in the North East to their wives complaining about the situation there.
The top military officer who spoke with Saturday Tribune at the Army Headquarters in Abuja  maintained that although the action of the women could not be said to be a mutiny, “but one thing remains clear that over a hundred thousand members of the armed forces, in joining the services, signed to defend the territorial integrity of the nation and pay the supreme sacrifice, if necessary.  It is unheard of anywhere in the world that soldiers would dictate where they want to serve. ”
The source added that the military investigators “will spread their dragnet to find out how the women started gathering and who instigated the protest and how it spread to other women.”
According to the source, the investigation will also identify the ring leaders of the protest among other terms of reference of the investigating team.
Possible punishment for the soldiers’ wives, the source said, is ejection from the barracks for the ring leaders of the protest, “so that they would not infest the other women in all our barracks.”
Army retires 18 Generals, 32 others
Meanwhile, the army council on Thursday approved the retirement of 50 officers ranging from Captains to Major Generals.
 President Goodluck Jonathan is the chairman of the army council. However, he is being represented by the Minister of Defence, Lt. General Aliyu Gusau, in the council.
This was the first meeting of the council since General Gusau assumed office as the Minister of Defence a few weeks ago.
 Indications also emerged that the 50 officers retired included eight Major Generals and no fewer than 10 Brigadier Generals.
 The retirements, according to sources, followed the approval of the recommendations submitted to the council by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General KTJ Minimah.
 The officers, sources explained, were retired based on the fact that many of them were caught by the age on rank rule. Others were retired because they were non-deployable owing to lack of capacity among other reasons.
Some were retired because they failed promotion examinations on the three occasions they had the opportunity.
 Others, it was learnt, were retired having put in their papers for voluntary retirement after attaining the mandatory retirement age or having completed the mandatory 35 years in service.
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