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Nigeria: Nigerian Soldiers' Revolt Averted in Dafur, Liberia
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This Day (Lagos)
10 April 2008
Posted to the web 10 April 2008
Juliana Taiwo
Abuja
The timely intervention of the Federal Government in responding to the demand of the Nigerian soldiers serving in Darfur by paying their three months allowances last weekend saved the country a huge international embarrassment.
THISDAY investigations revealed that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua last week approved about $3 million to clear three months outstanding allowances to about 800 Nigerian soldiers serving in Sudan, to halt an imminent revolt by the angry soldiers.
The soldiers had refused boarding the plane back home on completion of their assignment in Darfur insisting on getting their three months allowances before departure. Investigations further revealed that the contingents serving in Darfur, until last week were not paid their first quarter allowances while the Liberia contingent were yet to be paid about five months of their allowances.
It was learnt that when the situation in Darfur got to crisis point, top defence officials, including the Minister of Defence, Yayale Ahmed, sought the help of President Yar'Adua in sourcing the outstanding funds to pay the battalion to enable them return to Nigeria.
A dependable defence source disclosed that "the pathetic situation in Darfur, led to the soldiers' refusal to return to the country at the expiration of their mission in the troubled region."
The situation which almost led to a revolt, made frightened ministry officials and top military personnel at the Defence Headquarters to seek the urgent intervention of President Yar'Adua in redressing the Liberian case also.
"In other forestall a possible revolt in Liberia, efforts are on to prevent the rank and file of the Nigerian battalion serving in Liberia from reacting to the delay in the payment of similar allowances.
"The ministry of defence has prepared the six months outstanding allowances of the battalion in Liberia and presented it to the president for approval", the source said.
"In the case of Darfur, President Yar'Adua graciously directed the Ministry of Finance to release the allowances to the soldiers immediately. He was really eager to see the soldiers paid as soon as possible, so some senior defence officials were dispatched to Darfur with all the outstanding allowances of the troops".
"It was an emergency and the government needed to do something very urgent to arrest the situation," the source disclosed.
Speaking with THISDAY on condition of anonymity, another source said, "it is a shame that Nigeria should allow such a thing to happen before sending the soldiers' allowances. These are people who risk their lives for the continent of Africa and I think it is most unfair to have treated them like that. The government should endeavour to pay these people their money as at when due."
"It is important that Nigeria treats her soldiers on peace keeping missions and observer missions across the world properly. These soldiers don't have money or other means to rely on while serving in these missions, so it is important that they are given their money as at when due otherwise they may resort to crime to survive," the source warned.
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Investigations revealed that though the United Nations' monthly stipend of $1,028 per soldier is always delayed in coming, the Nigerian government through the ministry of defence had always delayed in releasing any intervention fund to pay the soldiers, to ameliorate their financial predicaments in peace keeping missions across the world.
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