By Dedeigbo Ayodeji
Retired Army, Navy and Airforce Officers Association of Nigeria (RANAO) and Coalition of Concerned Veterans (CCV) and its affiliate organizations, Thursday, called out the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (retd) and the Ministry of Defence for removing their names from benefiting from Debarment Allowance list.
Manual on Financial Administration for Armed Forces of Nigeria 2012, and the Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) as amended, stipulates that every member of the Nigerian Armed Forces is entitled to the allowance on retirement or death while in service without any ambiguity.
On the contrary, the Ministry of Defence commenced the payment of Debarment Allowance to some selected retired members of the armed forces on 20 June, 2020 and only paid officers and soldiers that retired from service from 9 November, 2017 to date, living majority of retired personnel who laid down their lives to defend the territorial integrity of the country from enjoying what they described as “their right.”
As a result, RANAO and CCV have written separate letters to the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (Retd) calling for his intervention.
They also appealed to the President and Commander – In – Chief of the Armed Forces, Mohammadu Buhari to intervene with a view to compelling Ministry of Defence to pay up their entitlement and stop the “discriminatory practice unheard of in the history of the forces.”
Part of the letter, obtained by Blackboxnigeria and signed by RANAO’s National President, Maj Gen Alexander Mshelbwala (retired) reads: “It is our prayers that your Excellency and the Appropriate Superior Authorities (ASA) revisit the issue and approve the payment of the allowance across the board to avoid discriminatory policies that do not augur well for peaceful co-existence and the indivisibility of the Armed Forces.
“Expressing their dissatisfaction to the Minister of Defence, CCV spokesperson, Sadisyne Durowaiye-Herberts pointed out that, “We, leaders of the various veterans (CCV) find it difficult that such a sensitive issue was perpetuated without due consultations and brief by the Veterans Affairs Department under your ministry.
“Meanwhile, senior retired veterans who had the opportunity during their service years to serve at various theatre of wars both at international and domestic peace keeping operations are vehemently opposed to the division and discriminatory practises MOD has enuciated by clandestinely sehemeing majority of them out from benefiting from their primary entitlement.
“At the moment, some of these Veterans are nursing various degrees of life threatening injuries and physical disabilities from mortar and mines attack during the Nigerian Civil War between 1968 – 1970; Liberia and Sierra Leone internecine war; attacks from Sudanese JaJaweed and recently attacks from bandits and Boko Haram insurgents. And most of them rely on these allowances to pay their medical bills.
“By extension, it would affect those in service especially those combating terrorists in the Northeast. In the mission area, soldiers are there fighting and some of their colleagues are already dead. The dead ones are supposed to be entitled to Security Debarment Allowance and you want to deny those categories of people who have laid down their lives?
“Peter Obiora, who retired as a Corporal and now into private business berated MOD for not appreciating veterans enough despite protecting the territorial sovereignty of the country.
“It’s an unfortunate development not to pay us debarment allowance alongside fellow Veterans who were recently paid.”
