TheCable

A soldier, who sustained injury while fighting against insurgents in the north-eastern part of the country, has alleged that the military refused to pay his medical bill, neglecting him to languish in pain and misery.

The unnamed soldier, who had his face covered while speaking to CNN, said the insurgents were better equipped than the country’s security forces.

There have been several instances of soldiers fleeing when confronted by the sect. Currently, more than 100 soldiers involved in the battle to restore normalcy to the troubled parts of the country are facing trials for mutiny.

“The major problem that soldiers have is that we don’t have the equipment to fight,” he said.

“Boko Haram has anti-aircraft guns, which are accurate up to three-quarters of a mile. All the Nigerian military has is the AK47 small machine gun, accurate up to a few hundred metres.

“The Nigerian soldiers are given only 60 bullets each, so we run out of bullets quickly but Boko Haram has large supplies of ammunition and more fighters.”

The wounded soldier narrated how he managed to escape death and had trek a distance of 70 kilometers for three days yet the military authorities refused to pay his medical bill of less than N40, 000.

“I feel very bad that even after sustaining injury during the battle, they did not pay for my drugs,” he said.

“My colleagues escaped when we were attacked and I was on the field for three days until I was was able to reunite with his unit. My family has even asked me to quit this job… Boko has sophisticated weapons than us. We don’t have good equipment to fight.”

Another soldier, who also spoke anonymously, blamed the military’s inability to prosecute a successful war against Boko Haram on corruption.

“The morale of the troops is actually very low, very low,” he said. “Soldiers don’t ever benefit from the billions allocated to the defence budget,” he continued.

“We are not issued kits, we buy kits ourselves.”

But Chris Olukolade, director of defence information has dismissed the allegations, describing it as blackmail against the nation.

“The federal government and the military leadership are concerned, committed and focused on the ongoing fight against terror,” Olukolade said in astatement.

“The orchestrated blackmail and propaganda by entrenched interests will not deter the military.

“If it is true that a Nigerian soldier will wilfully go against the rules by speaking without due authorisation and misinform the foreign media, then it indicates how deeply committed and how far the interest of these enemies of Nigeria and humanity have gone in trying to undermine and destroy the military.

“The motive of this satanic CNN report should be of concern to all patriots and Nigeria’s well-wishers. We believe that appropriate security agencies will also work on the root of this blackmail against the nation. The fight is not for the military alone.”