NOPRIN writes Buhari over wrongful, arbitrary dismissal of 38 Army officers

…Challenges President on integrity, sense of justice

The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to demonstrate his integrity and sense of justice by reviewing the arbitrary, unjust and unwarranted punishment meted to the 38 senior Army officers wrongfully retired by the Army authorities in June 9, 2016.

The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, in an open letter to President Buhari noted that the 38 Senior Army Officers who were wrongfully dismissed by way of compulsory retirement on June 9, 2016 had been subjected to a deliberate pattern of abuse including denial of access to administrative procedures for seeking redress.

Nwanguma informed the President that the Senior Army Officers had written petitions to him, individually and collectively, seeking his intervention for justice but he was, till date, yet to acknowledge any of their petitions, let alone take any step to ensure justice.

He reminded President Buhari that the development had put a huge question mark on his self-acclaimed integrity and commitment to justice.

Below is the detail of the letter;

Dear President Buhari,

Re: Wrongful and Arbitrary Dismissal Of Army 38: Please Prove Your Integrity

NOPRIN writes to you, President Muhammadu Buhari, concerning the thirty-eight (38) Senior Army Officers who were wrongfully dismissed by way of compulsory retirement on June 9, 2016 and have been subjected to a deliberate pattern of abuse (including denial of access to administrative procedures for seeking redress). The Senior Army Officers have written petitions to you, individually and collectively, seeking your intervention for justice but you are, till date, yet to acknowledge any of their petitions, let alone take any step to ensure justice. This puts a huge question mark on your self-acclaimed integrity and commitment to justice.

The facts of this case as already elaborately articulated in several petitions to you are highlighted at the end of this open letter. However, the case can be summarised as follows:

1. There was no factual basis whatsoever for the punishment of the Army 38 by way of compulsory retirement and subsequent false narrative to the media that the affected officers were corrupt.
2. The compulsory retirement of the Army 38 by the Army Council was illegal and constitutes an abuse of office as the Army Council does not have the powers to punish any officer. The powers of the Army Council in relation to discipline of personnel are limited to only a confirmation authority of punishment awarded by a duly constituted Court Martial.
3. None of the Army 38 was ever queried, charged or tried by a court martial at any time and therefore the Army Council is in no position to sit over any disciplinary matter pertaining to any of the 38 Officers.
4. The punishment of the Army 38 by way of compulsory retirement without giving any of them the opportunity to defend themselves against any allegation is against natural justice and the principle of fair hearing.
5. The pattern of abuse meted to the Army 38 by the military leadership indicates deliberate witch hunt of selected officers based on tribal affiliations and pedigree.
6. After the illegal compulsory retirement of the Army 38, the victims have individually written to the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff and Mr. President, C-in-C to request for details of any wrong doing that may have warranted their compulsory retirement even when the Army Council has no power whatsoever to retire any officer on disciplinary grounds, but none of them have been furnished with any offence.
7. The individual request for redress by the Army 38 to the C-in –C in was sent since July 2016 in line with the prescribed procedure but they were ignored. The calls for justice by these fine officers who have individually earned awards and accolades in their careers have remained ignored by their C-in-C for 3 years now.
8. With the deliberate pattern of abuse targeted at these innocent officers, some of them approached the Senate and House of Representatives for an independent investigation of their matter. Both chambers at different times investigated the matter but came to the same conclusion that the punishment of the Army 38 was arbitrary with no evidence of any offence committed. Both chambers went further in their respective terms to admonish the Nigerian Army over the arbitrary disengagement of officers as this action would discourage serving officers and soldiers from giving their full commitment to the service of the nation, and directed their immediate re-instatement.
9. Similarly, many of the affected officers approached the National Industrial Court to seek justice. Interestingly, the Army authorities have been unable to indicate any offence against any of the officers in the on-going cases except during the Senate Committee Hearing on Col Ukoha’s case when the Director Nigerian Army Legal Department asserted that the reason for the senior officer’s retirement came from outside the service, and for which he was not given a fair hearing but rather embarked on delay tactics to drag the process.
10. However, one of the officers had his case determined in his favour with the court stating that the action of the Military Authorities was unlawful and therefore rendered the compulsory retirement of the officer null and void. The court further ordered his immediate re-instatement with his full benefits.
11. The findings of the respective chambers of the National Assembly and the court in the determined case shows that the action of the military authorities in the case of the Army 38 was unlawful and an arbitrary act indicative of gross abuse of office by the troika of Hon Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff.
12. Despite the court order and pronouncement of the respective chambers of the National Assembly for the immediate re-instatement of these affected officers, the military authorities have ignored and continued in their deliberate pattern of abuse targeted at these fine gentlemen.
13. Further to the efforts of the Army 38 at seeking justice at the court and National Assembly, they also wrote two (2) open letters to Mr President and C-in-C that were published in the Daily Trust of July 6, 2017 and October 31, 2017 respectively. These actions were aimed at challenging the integrity and claimed commitment to justice by Mr President but regrettably it has remained eerie silence from him. Where then lies the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari?
14. While the Terms and Conditions of Service of Officers Revised 2012 gave the unjustly retired officers 30 days in which to appeal their illegal retirement, the same legal document was silent on how long the C-in-C could take to respond to the petition. This accounts for why Mr President could be seating on their appeals for almost 3 years now thus deliberately denying them justice, closure and clearance of their names and the restoration of their honour and integrity.
15. To make matters worse the COAS is already making reference to the Army 38 as if they had all been convicted of wrongdoing with respect to the 2015 General Elections. The first instance was during the 2018 Annual COAS Conference in Maiduguri, while the second time was on Monday 4 February 2019 while speaking to commanding officers about their conduct during the forthcoming 2019 elections. The COAS knows for a fact that he did not subject the officers to the appropriate disciplinary due process, he did not find them guilty of any wrong-doing and that he contravened the rule of law and subverted the course of justice for his subordinates whom he had sworn to protect.
16. The greatest victim here is the service as this unjust, malicious and inhuman action has done grave damage to the psyche, confidence, and commitment to duty, patriotism and morale of service personnel. The illegal retirement has eroded officer’s sense of job security since they now know that they could be compulsorily retired arbitrarily without regard to laid down legal procedure. This will affect officers’ productivity and also make them resort to self-help whenever the opportunity presents itself to enrich themselves and therefore prepare a fall-back nest in the event of any eventuality.

NOPRIN therefore, calls on the President to prove demonstrate his integrity and sense of justice by reviewing the arbitrary, unjust and unwarranted punishment meted to the Army 30 by the Army Authorities.

Okechukwu Nwanguma

National Coordinator

08064974531

Facts of the case

We hereunder, highlight the issues raised in one of several letters, titled:  ‘Abuse of Office by the leadership of the Nigerian Military in respect of the unlawful and wrongful compulsory retirement of 38 Senior Army Officers on 9 June, 2016 addressed to you by Abdul Muhammed Esq. Principal, Abdul Muhammed LP., Counsel to the officers.

1. At the beginning of your administration, two panels were instituted by the Nigerian Army and/or Office of National Security Adviser respectively, to inquire into

– (1) Allegations of electoral malpractices by Nigerian Army personnel and

– (2) Allegations of corruption associated with arms procurement under the office of National Security Adviser.

2. Furthermore, sometime in June 2016 the Nigeria Army under the leadership of the troika of the Minister of Defense, Mr. Mansur Dan Ali, Chief of Defense Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai presided over a sitting of the Army Council and they saw to the punishment by compulsory retirement of the 38 senior officers of the Nigerian Army.
3. All the 38 officers were said to have been compulsorily retired based on disciplinary grounds (serious offences) as stated in the letters issued to them by the Nigerian Army. It is essential to point out that the public declaration of compulsory retirement of the 38 officers has undermined the individual reputations of these Senior Army officers and frustrated their respective efforts as securing a livelihood for their families.
4. Eighteen (18) of these Senior Army officers that were dismissed did not at any time appear before any one of the two panels that were set up or any other inquiry or investigation for that matter. They were never investigated for any infraction, they were never indicted, they were never tried and they were never convicted of any disciplinary or criminal breaches whatsoever. Additionally, many of these officers have no relationship whatsoever with election duties or procurement office as falsely alleged by the Army leadership. They have never served in procurement capacity throughout their careers in the Army or participated in any form of election duties during the 2015 General Elections.
5. Most importantly, none of the 38 senior officers that were compulsorily retired was at any time ever charged, tried by a court martial or found guilty of any offence in line with Armed Forces extant rules and regulations, before they respectively heard of their retirement in the media. Interestingly, none of these officers has ever been informed of the particulars of any alleged offense till date aside the bogus assertion made by the Army leadership in the media. Some of the affected officers wrote to the Army Authorities to furnish them with facts that constitute any alleged offense, but regrettably the Army has failed to respond to this simple request till date – three year after. This goes to confirm that the Army Authorities acted with impunity in the case of the 38 compulsorily retired officers.
6. After the very public dismissal of the 38 Senior Army officers, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Army Staff went to the media with the narrative that the 38 Army Officers were professionally corrupt and that these officers were punished after due process. These are untrue statements because the dismissed officers are innocent and there was a complete failure to follow the processes laid down by the Nigeria Army with respect to these wrongful and illegal dismissals.
7. In fact, records of the Army will confirm that some of these 38 retired officers were actually in the frontline of North Eastern operations waging war against terror which earned them official commendations and accolades for their exploits, as against the narrative of participating in election duties. Several others in the list of petitioners were on Army posting outside the shores of Nigeria during the period of the General elections, as well as during the entire periods that the relevant panels were sitting in Kaduna and at Abuja.
8. Clearly, someone in the leadership of the military was involved in victimization of innocent senior officers of the Nigeria Army and it’s been revealed that the names of innocent officers were substituted in place of the guilty ones in a case of gross corruption and abuse of office. It is specifically alleged against the leadership of the military that: they maliciously and surreptitiously substituted the names of culpable officers with innocent ones in a gross act of corruption and went ahead to deliberately mislead the President and Commander in Chief as well as the entire nation on the matter.
9. The action of the military in the matter of the 38 officers was based on pure vendetta and pursuit of opaque objectives such as attempt to coerce officers to commit crimes in future elections. This was motivated by their desire to further their personal ambitions and interests without any consideration whatsoever for overall national interest and security.
10. Army record shows that in the respective case of all the officers, there were either no factual basis for the punishment and/or there was complete lack of established process leading to their dismissals.
11. The report with respect to Arms Procurement was completed and published in December 2016, which was six months after these 38 Senior Officers had been dismissed based on involvement in Arms Procurement saga. The panel on Arms Procurement never indicted any of these 38 officers and some of those serving officers that were recommended for further investigation are still serving in the Army and have continued to enjoy their promotion and privileges.
12. Within the first year of persistent abuse and denial of justice to the 38 retired officers, one of them, Lt Col Baba-Ochankpa died. This gallant officer died literally of a broken heart. The 38 Senior Army Officers are crying for justice as promised to Nigerians by this administration. The widow of Lt. Col Baba-Ochankpa (Mrs. Ruth Baba-Ochanpka) deserves justice. The children of the late Lt Col Baba- Ochanpka, Master Joshua Baba – Ochankpa, Miss Esther Baba-Ochankpa and Miss Abigail Baba-Ochankpa deserve justice. They deserve better than what the Nigerian Army has allowed them to be subjected to. These beautiful children deserve to remove the stain that the present Army leadership has put on the memory of late Lt Col Baba-Ochanpka and just as important, the Nigerian Military certainly does not deserve a leadership that will not allow our men and women who are serving their fatherland the fullest protection of the Nigerian constitution and our laws.
13. The Nigerian military being an institution requiring the highest level of integrity, honour and Espirit de corps must not be allowed to be manipulated under any guise to attain personal objectives such as witch hunting and victimization without any factual basis as in the case of the 38 retired officers.
14. Further, it has been brought to the notice of the Vice President (while Acting President) that despite an order of mandamus made by the National Industrial Court, Abuja which was directed specifically to the Chief Of Defense Staff, and requiring Gen. Olonisakin to (as a matter of his duty) transmit the affected officer’s administrative appeal for redress to Mr. President and to show proof of doing same to the Court Registrar, the Chief of Defense Staff has continued to defy an order of a court of competent jurisdiction in a flagrant show of impunity and disrespect for rule of law. This clearly shows bad faith and the fact that they have something to hide.
15. The Defence and military leadership acting jointly and severally and with impunity did abuse their offices. What is more, they have done so to sabotage the wishes of the President. This situation deserves more than the reinstatement of the innocent officers, but requires a deep investigation that will afford the nation to know how something as wanton as what is alleged has happened.
16. The allegations contained if properly investigated and construed, are indicative of gross misconduct, misapplication of delegated powers and dereliction of duty. The Federal Government is respectfully requested to inquire into the actions of high officials of government and see to it that the persons that have done these illegal things are unmasked and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
17. The Acting President was then urged to authorize an urgent and impartial investigation into all the allegations in this petition, as we believe, on the basis of these allegations, that an independent review could eventually lead to (1) the immediate reinstatement of all the 38 Senior Army Officers that were wrongfully and illegally retired in wanton abuse of office and (2) the institution of further disciplinary procedures against those high officials that were involved in the illegal and or sham retirement exercise.

In the second year into this injustice, Counsel to the 38 senior army officers again petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari for the unlawful disengagement from service of the officers. He reminded the President that for two years the affected officers have repeatedly requested the Nigeria Army leadership to state the offences which gave rise to the punishment, but that the army leadership has not been able to state the specific offence.

The only explanation they have been given was that the punishment came ‘from above’, signifying that President Buhari ordered for the punishment and or retirement of the 38 army officers. However, none of these officers has ever had any personal interactions with Mr. President to warrant a decision by the Commander-in-Chief to punish them and without recourse to due process at that.

Mr. President, you have put out a reputation of being a man of justice, dignity and integrity but you have yet to prove it to all Nigerians in the case of these innocent 38 army officers. In the past three years, grave injustice has been meted to these innocent officers, and in spite of repeated passionate letters of redress to you as their Commander-in-Chief, you have been curiously silent. You have also ignored the resolutions of both the Senate and the House of Representatives which have given hearings to petitions of members of the Army 38. The Senate and House of Representatives, through their respective Public Petition Committees after their respective investigations of the matter had admonished the Nigerian Army over arbitrary disengagement of officers, as this action would discourage serving officers and soldiers from giving their full commitment to the service of the nation.

Both chambers of the National Assembly have recommended immediate reinstatement of the officers as they were found to have done no wrong.

Yet you are yet to review the lingering injustice that has been perpetuated by the army leadership against these innocent officers.

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