Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, came down hard on soldiers manning Damaturu-Maiduguri road in the state on Monday afternoon.
Zulum was on his way to Jakana, a community where Boko Haram insurgents struck on Saturday when he ran into a long queue of vehicles at one of the checkpoints.
The governor, who apparently had been briefed that the security operatives were extorting people, alighted from his vehicle and walked straight to where some of the soldiers were.
“I’m going to report all of you in this unit… nobody can tolerate this. Boko Haram is attacking people and you are here collecting N1000 per car,” he said.
One of the soldiers tried to calm the governor down, saying he would look into the case but Zulum fired back, saying: “But we saw them.”
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The Nigerian Army Headquarters has however promised to carry out a thorough investigation into the allegation of extortion of commuters by its personnel in Borno with a view to sanctioning them.
The Nigerian Army Operations’ Media Coordinator, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, in a statement on Tuesday, said Nigerian army as a professional and disciplined institution viewed such allegations seriously, particularly coming from a governor.
According to him, it is on record that, whenever such allegations of troops’ misconduct were made in the past, the Nigerian Army never reneged in conducting thorough investigations to establish them.
“Where any infractions were established against any personnel, appropriate sanctions were applied in line with extant rules and regulations as provided for in the Armed Forces Act CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
“Thus, the Nigerian Army wishes to assure the good people of Borno State and indeed the nation at large that any allegations of misconduct against its troops will be duly investigated and culprits will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
Iliyasu said army authorities had, however, observed that such public outbursts, particularly by a state governor, could be counterproductive.
He added that such outburst was capable of reversing the gains recorded so far in the ongoing fight against insurgents and other criminal elements across the nation.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to emphatically reiterate its steadfastness on the protection of lives, properties of all law-abiding citizens as it is committed to wiping out insurgency in the North East and other forms of criminality across the country.
“Additionally, citizens’ continuous support and cooperation are highly appreciated.
“Any observed misconduct by troops could be reported directly through a toll – free code 193 for immediate remedy,” he said.