A soldier in the 145 Battalion in Damasak, Maiduguri, Borno State has alleged that the commander of the battalion, Lieutenant Colonel SA Ochalla, has requested that soldiers pay a sum of N40, 000 each before their names can be included on the promotion list.
According to him, the commander has also included names of dead soldiers that have died since 2017 on the promotion list to leave some room for the inclusion of the names of those who have yet to be due for promotion but could afford the bribe.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Friday, the soldier urged the Nigerian Army Personnel to take a visit to Damasak town to further investigate the issue.
He said some of the soldiers of the battalion that had been deployed to the area since six years ago and due for promotion were not considered as they were not able to pay the bribe.
He said: “My commanding officer has compiled a list of soldiers for promotion but he refused to include the names of soldiers that refused to pay N40,000 to him.
“It’s not even about the money. There are soldiers that have been here since six years ago in this forest and they were not included on the promotion list. By now, they ought to have got special promotion but they didn’t get anything like that.
“Now that they are due for the promotion, he’s including the names of those who are not even due for promotion because they paid. Some of the names on the list belong to those who have even died.
“Army Headquarters intelligence office should come and investigate this man and his clerk, so he would explain how the name of someone who died in 2016, 2017 is on the promotion list. The Army headquarters office should come and investigate this.”
