By SOLOMON ODENIYI, Abuja

The Nigerian Army on Saturday vowed to deal severely with any of its personnel caught using social media to engage the authorities.

It said the Army has established mechanisms of responding to administrative issues and resorting to social media was not one of them.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima, said this in a statement on Saturday.

He was reacting to a petition written to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), by some Non-Commissioned Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers to reject the proposed Nigerian Army Welfare Housing Scheme.

Yerima said the names and service numbers of signatories on the petition do not exist in Army’s records.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that some Non-Commissioned Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers had petitioned the President to reject the proposed Nigerian Army Welfare Housing Scheme.

In the petition co-signed by 05NA/57/2084 Sgt. Yusuf Shetima,04NA/55/0925 Cpl James Ibok, 09NA/62/5578 LCPL Danladi Ibrahim,11NA/66/10622 LCPL Afolabi Showumi and 13NA/70/11034 PTE Lucky Dolph, they described the project as fraudulent.

But Yerima said the scheme was meant to benefit soldiers and members of their family.

He said the Chief of Army Staff met an Army Housing Scheme in the pipeline and constituted a committee to understudy its feasibility.

Yerima added that the committee, in its bid to allow soldiers speak their mind on the scheme and know those interested in the project, designed a questionnaire.

He stated that it was while administering the questionnaire to soldiers that agent provocateurs seized the moment to condemn the scheme.

The statement titled, ‘Re: Rejection of the proposed Nigerian Army Welfare Housing Scheme’, read, “The signatories who claimed to be writing on behalf of NA soldiers are fictitious names and numbers which are non-existent in the Nigerian Army records.

“The current Chief of Army Staff met an Army Housing Scheme in the pipeline and constituted a committee to understudy its feasibility and desirability.

“Questionnaire was subsequently designed by the committee for soldiers to bare their minds on the scheme and to ascertain those who are interested in it.

“It was still at this stage of administering the questionnaire to soldiers that agent provocateurs seized the moment to demonise the scheme with toxic narratives.

“Members of the Nigerian Army have established mechanisms of responding to administrative issues and resort to social media is not one of them. Any personnel caught using social media to engage the authorities will be severely dealt with.

“It is however curious that a scheme meant to benefit soldiers and families could be so flagrantly twisted in the social media using names and numbers that are alien to the Nigerian Army. The motive for this kind of strange act will ultimately be uncovered.” (Saturday PUNCH)

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