BEVERLY HILLS, August 13, (THEWILL) – Soldiers of the Special Strike Forces deployed in Operation Lafiya Dole have protested against their posting to Marte, a Local Government Area (LGA) in Northern Borno State.
The soldiers reacted to the news of the latest posting on Sunday evening by firing gunshots in the air at the Maiduguri International Airport in the state capital and have blocked all entrances to the airport.
The aggrieved soldiers reportedly arrived at the airport at 6pm ahead of their posting to Marte local government area but trouble started when they regrouped and refused to board the aircraft which ought to convey them there.
The soldiers claimed that they were due for rotation, having spent almost four years at the theatre of operations.
They revealed that they had reported for duty in February 2015, stressing that a military circular from the Chief of Army Staff had clearly stated that no soldier should in any account be kept beyond three years in the North East region of the country.
They lamented that out of the over 300 troops who reported, many of them had died in the last three years as a result of ambush or landmines by the Boko Haram insurgents, while some were killed in battle.
Attempts by top military officers of the Theatre Command to appease the irate soldiers could not yield any positive result as the soldiers said they ought to be sent back to their families and not to be posted to face death.
However, THEWILL gathered that calm has returned and the soldiers have stopped the protest.
