“Warn of looming anarchy and chaos.”
The soldiers serving in the 152 Task Force Battalion of the Nigerian Army’s Division in Borno have leveled allegations of religious bias and discriminatory conduct against their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel MZ Dikko.
While speaking to Parallel Facts, the soldiers claim that Dikko has exhibited religious prejudice by expelling Catholics from their church and converting it into a conference venue.
Moreover, they assert that when objections are voiced, Dikko resorts to threats of disciplinary action, including dismissal from the army.
They caution that if these practices are not addressed promptly, they could precipitate chaos and disorder.
“We, the soldiers of the 152 Task Force Battalion, are constrained to write to you, sir, through this medium to draw your attention to the divisive actions of our commanding officer, Lt. Col. MZ Dikko, which, if not checked, can result in chaos and anarchy in the unit . The Nigerian Army is reputed for tolerance and neutrality on matters of religion and ethnicity. Lt Col. MZ Dikko has jettisoned this age-old tradition, and he is on a quest to reverse it.
“He recently evicted Catholics from their church and converted the building to a conference centre. Catholics take the alters in their church very seriously, and if an altar is to be moved , the new one must be consecrated. When observations were raised by the soldiers, he threatened to charge and dismiss them from the Army. While this was going on, he went about telling soldiers of Muslim faith that Christians would suffer under his command.
“These same Muslim soldiers were outraged at his utterances and bigotry, as this goes against the Nigerian Army doctrine of religious tolerance. They see it as an attempt to pit them against their fellow colleagues of Christian faith.
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“The commanding officer also deliberately skews the selection process for Nigerian Army courses to favour those of the Muslim faith and discards merit. When it comes to promotions, he deliberately forwards the names of Muslim soldiers and goes ahead to tell them he is fighting for Muslims. However, the soldiers of Christian and Muslim faiths have always rejected his agenda to create division amongst them,” the statement said.
The soldiers alleged that despite trekking long distances, Lt. Col. Dikko failed to provide them with sufficient food.
Another critical issue of concern to us is welfare and feeding. The Nigerian Army devotes a lot of resources towards ensuring we are well fed. However, Lt. Col. MZ Dikko frustrates these efforts by refusing to feed us well.
“The standard of feeding is abysmal, even as the amount for feeding each soldier has been increased to N1500 per day. There is a location in Kumshe where soldiers are deployed without operational vehicles and are made to walk ten kilometers to get food supplies. It will be difficult to repel attacks without vehicles to mount our support weapons.
