The former soldier, who said he served with the 118 Task Force Battalion, recalled that surviving troops were regrouped in Gubio after the attack, where a brigade commander addressed them.
A former Nigerian soldier has alleged that he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army after almost 20 years of service for merely raising his hand to ask a question during a post-attack briefing.
The ex-soldier, who shared his account on a podcast hosted by Lucky Udu, said his dismissal in December 2015 followed a deadly Boko Haram ambush in Baga, Borno State, where he claimed at least 117 of his colleagues were k!lled.
“I am not a wounded soldier. I am a dismissed soldier,” he said.
The former soldier, who said he served with the 118 Task Force Battalion, recalled that surviving troops were regrouped in Gubio after the attack, where a brigade commander addressed them.
He said, “After his address, he asked us if there was any question. I raised my hand. Some other soldiers also raised their hands.”
However, what appeared to be a routine interaction turned into a life-altering moment.
“He asked me to come out. As I was coming out, expecting to ask my question, I was disarmed immediately and taken to Maimalari Cantonment. There, I was chained and handcuffed,” he recounted.
According to him, he spent 10 days in detention before being informed that he had been charged with disobedience.
He said, “I asked her, ‘You were there when the commander asked if there was any question… but I was singled out.’ She told me there was nothing she could do.”
He alleged that over 300 soldiers from the 118 and 157 Task Force Battalions were dismissed during the operation, under the orders of a senior officer he identified as General Jamilu Sarham.
“If you need the names, I can bring out their names,” he said.
He said he joined the Army in 2003 at age 18 and had participated in multiple military operations across Nigeria and abroad, including in the Darfur region and Operation Pulo Shield.
The ex-soldier described the scale of losses suffered during counter-insurgency missions.
“Our battalion, 118 Task Force Battalion, we spent just two days, and on the third day in Maimalari, at Tere Tere, we encountered Boko Haram. We lost about 115 soldiers.”
“At Gajibo, we lost 75 soldiers. At Tunkushe, we lost 300 and something soldiers,” he added.
He said there was renewed hope when the late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, showed interest in addressing their case.
He said, “When he came in, he compiled all our names. He asked us to report at Jaji by Monday. Unfortunately, he d!ed on Friday, on his way to the Nigerian Army Depot for a parade.”
Since then, he said, no meaningful intervention had come.
Nearly a decade after his dismissal, the ex-soldier said he receives no salary or benefits and now survives on occasional donations from friends and family.
“Sometimes friends will call me and dash me ₦5,000. That’s it,” he said.
He revealed that his three children are no longer in school, while his wife hawks to support the family.
He said, “My wife is hawking… Sometimes through the help of my friends or siblings, they send ₦10,000 so she can buy things like tomatoes and beverages to sell.
“As I am now, I don’t have a home. Anywhere I see, I just spot to make a living.”
He admitted to suffering emotionally and psychologically from the trauma of war and his dismissal.
The dismissed soldier said, “At times I feel as if I want to go mad, because I know the series of attacks we faced.”
Despite everything, he said his passion for the Army remains intact.
He further stated, “The Army has been my passion… If the Army cannot take me back, I’m ready for anything. Anything that has to do with security.”
He also revealed that he completed his university education after his dismissal.
He said, “I’m a graduate of political science… Security is my core competence. I can work effectively as a Chief Security Officer in any company.”
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