Army Speaks On Detaining Soldier For Preaching

The Nigerian Army has refuted a widely shared social media report on Tuesday that Lance Corporal Musa Adamu was detained for converting from Islam to Christianity and evangelizing.

The army claims the cause of the detention was not related to religious reasons.

In an official statement, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Army Public Relations, clarified that Adamu’s detainment was actually due to his violation of certain provisions of the Armed Forces Act, opposing the circulating reports.

The statement reads, “Contrary to reports being circulated in the Social Media that personnel of the Nigerian Army (NA), Lance Corporal Musa Adamu is in detention for converting to Christianity, the reality is that the soldier is in custody for violation of some provisions of the Armed Forces Act.

“The report is not only a misrepresentation of the true situation but an outrageous falsehood tainted with religious bigotry, peddled against the Nigerian Army. This is a professional institution guided by well-established ethics and tradition in all its activities and personnel administration.

“This is in addition to the unbiased premium of place accorded to the spiritual concern and growth of personnel as well as the sensitivity it attaches to religious practices among personnel.

“To set the records straight, Lance Corporal Musa Adamu, a personnel of the Amphibious Training School was attached to 63 Brigade to participate in an ongoing operation, during which he was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform in violation of the extant Social Media policy for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“This prompted his invitation to the relevant authorities. Rather than appear for the investigation, he absconded for about six and a half months. This resulted in the soldier being placed on Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL). The personnel’s action violates Section 58 (a) (b) Obstruction of Provost Officers and Section 59 (a) (b) Absence Without Leave.”

He added that once an army personnel is absent from his unit for seven days without justification, he is declared AWOL.

Onyema said every personnel of the service functions under a Corps or Department with stipulated statutory responsibilities manned by qualified personnel trained to effectively execute those duties.

According to him, Army religious affairs are handled by designated clergy in the Directorates of Chaplain Services (Protestant), (Roman Catholic), and Islamic Affairs.

He said personnel of these directorates are mandated to conduct all religious activities to cater to the spiritual needs of all NA personnel, both in the theatres of operations and within the barracks.

He added, “The question begging for an answer is, if the NA allowed the soldier to change his religion, why would the NA victimise him? It is ironic, therefore, that an institution that promotes spiritual well-being is alleged to have detained the soldier for his faith. This is even when it is abundantly clear that he has the opportunity to change his Corps to any of the Army’s chaplaincies.

“The NA will not be hesitant to state that it is guided by ethics, traditions, and military laws, which direct personnel on their conduct. Violation of these ideals and statutory stipulations evokes sanctions, irrespective of the faith of the offender.”