The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has said the Federal Government has improved the welfare of Nigerian soldiers, revealing that the minimum monthly salary for military personnel has increased from N49,000 to N100,000.
Speaking during an interview on News Central on Wednesday, the minister noted that while personnel welfare has improved, the military continues to face funding challenges."When they started, a soldier was collecting N49,000 monthly. We tried so hard. Now he's collecting N100,000," he said.
The minister also dismissed claims that troops fighting insurgency across the country are poorly fed. He referred to a viral social media video shared by social media personality Justice Crack, which purported to show inadequate food served to soldiers.
According to the minister, the video did not accurately reflect the situation, alleging that food items such as meat had been deliberately removed before the footage was recorded to create a misleading impression.
"The soldier's food was okay. There was meat; there was all this. But he told them to pull out those things and make it look as if those things were not there," he said.
Commenting on the recent abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State, the minister described the incident as unfortunate and alleged that the kidnappers were seeking to pressure the military into releasing some of their detained commanders.
"It's a very sad event. Unfortunately, bad things do happen. For whatever reason, they are looking for leverage because we have some of their commanders with us, and they feel taking these kids and holding them to ransom will make us release their commander," he stated.
He further claimed that the abductors had threatened to kill the children if security forces intensified rescue operations.
"They are now threatening that if we come any closer, they're going to kill all the kids," he added.
The minister reiterated the government's commitment to tackling insecurity and ensuring the safe return of kidnapped victims while continuing military operations against criminal and insurgent groups.
.jfif)
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