Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Twenty–six military officers, including a Major General and Brigadiers General, have petitioned Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, over what they termed compulsory retirement from the Nigerian Army.
The petitioners, who include Maj. Gen. O. Ugo; Brigs. Gen. J. Chima (Imo state), J. Ebong (Akwa Ibom), P. Aro (Ondo); M. Odediran (Osun); A. Busari (Oyo); E. Albara (Niger); J. Audu (Kogi); O. Falade (Osun) and G. Shipi (Plateau) and others, argued that their retirement was unlawful.
Apart from the petitioners who were Regular Combatant Officers, it was learnt that about 120 Direct Regular Officers who were mostly medical doctors, lawyers and other professionals also got retirement letters in February 2019.
In an April 1 petition, signed by their lawyer, Johnson Oyewole, they contended that, as Regular Combatant Officers, they cannot be retired from the Army based on Rule 020810 (I) which the Military Secretary relied on to retrench them from service and added that they protested the development via a February 20 letter to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Buratai, followed up with a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari which were not responded to.