The Nigerian Army has made clarifications in the compulsory retirement of some senior officers recently disengaged from the service by the Council.
The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, made the clarifications on Monday in response to the growing speculation and rumours regarding the number and names of the senior Army officers affected in the recent retirement.
Usman said it “is worrisome as some individuals and media houses went to the ridiculous extent of publishing outrageous figures and names of serving officers as being retired.
“This is unethical and unfair. It is therefore necessary to inform the public to please disregard such inaccurate lists”.
Usman, who still did not reveal the names of the affected officers, however confirmed that only 38 senior officers were affected by the retirement exercise.
For the avoidance of doubt, he said, the following is the statistics of the officers retired compulsorily – nine Major Generals, 10 Brigadier Generals, seven Colonels, 11 Lieutenant Colonels and a Major.
“We are quite aware that some mischievous elements are trying to whip up sentiments. This is quite unfortunate because all the affected officers were retired based on Service exigencies and in line with the Armed Forces Act, CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004,” he added.
Usman noted that the Nigerian Army is a professional institution that is based on highest standards of discipline and conduct.
Consequently, he said, its personnel must remain professional, neutral and apolitical at all times.
