ABUJA- The Nigerian Army has denied arresting one of its personnel identified as Lance Corporal Musa Adamu for converting from Islam to Christianity.
According to a statement by its Director of Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu on Tuesday, the Army said Adamu, a personnel of the Amphibious Training School, was attached to 63 Brigade but was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform in violation of extant Social Media policy for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
“This prompted his invitation for interrogation by relevant authorities,” the Army said.
“Rather than present himself for the investigation, he absconded for about six and a half months, resulting in the declaration of the soldier on Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL). The action of the personnel violates Section 58 (a) (b) Obstruction of Provost Officers and Section 59 (a) (b) Absence Without Leave.
“It must be clarified, that once a personnel is absent from his unit for 7 days without any justification, he will be declared on AWOL. This automatically triggers the freezing of his salary account, until the personnel returns to unit and is arraigned and sanctioned,” the statement partly read.
The Army said the soldier was rather taken into custody for investigation and in pursuant of statutory provisions enshrined in the Armed Forces Act CAP 20.
The Army further stated that it is guided by ethics, traditions and military laws, which direct personnel on their conducts, adding that violation of these ideals and statutory stipulations evoke sanctions, irrespective of the faith of the offender.
