Nigerian Army Denies Arresting Soldier Preaching On Social Media

The Nigerian Army has denied detaining Lance Corporal Musa Adamu, a member of its staff, for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Adamu, a member of the Amphibious Training School who was assigned to 63 Brigade, was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform, in violation of the current Social Media policy for the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the Army said in a statement by its Director of Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu.

“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 AWOL. This automatically triggers the freezing of his salary account, until the personnel returns to the unit and is arraigned and sanctioned,” the statement partly read.

The Army said the soldier was rather taken into custody for investigation and 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 conduct, adding that violation of these ideals and statutory stipulations evoke sanctions, irrespective of the faith of the offender.