About 356 Soldiers fighting Boko Haram allegedly resigns citing loss of interest

The soldiers, The PUNCH reports, are mostly from the north-east theatre of operation where the Boko Haram insurgency has persisted for more than a decade. Their ranks include master warrant officers, warrant officers, staff sergeants, sergeants, lance corporals, corporals and privates.

Although the Nigerian army denied the resignation which it described as “fake news” via its Twitter handle, a military source told TheCable on Sunday that the soldiers truly resigned. The source said some of them involved in the war against Boko Haram are “tired”, citing a recent onslaught by the insurgents as one of the reasons.

“Some of these soldiers are tired. We’ve lost many of our colleagues,” the source said. “The last attack on troops in Damboa, more than 20 soldiers died and up till now 50 are still missing, yet the authorities said only two died.” According to The PUNCH, the soldiers are among 380 personnel whose application for voluntary disengagement from service was recently approved to take effect from January. Twenty-four others reportedly gave their reason as “to take a traditional title”.