A Nigerian Army officer, A.S.H. Sa’ad, a brigadier general, who was discharged in 2016, has been ordered to be reinstated by an Abuja industrial court. Along with 37 other officers, Mr. Sa’ad was fired.
The judge, Benedict Kanyip, stated in his decision on Tuesday that the claimant had shown his case far beyond the legal threshold that he was unlawfully terminated. Mr. Saad and his co-workers were relieved of duty without following the Nigerian military’s disengagement procedures.
The majority of the officers involved were not questioned or indicted by any panel but were instead discharged for reasons that smack of high-level unfairness and witch-hunting by army authorities.
Following military protocol, the officers petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari for redress.
However, even two years after petitioning the president, their destinies remain uncertain.
Mr. Buhari refused to react to their petitions, creating suspicions that he was involved in the wrongdoing that characterized the officers’ dismissal.
Mr. Kanyip, who delivered the verdict, stated that in the view of the law, the petitioner was never forced to retire because the Army failed to prove that Mr. Sa’ad had committed any wrongdoing.
The judge also noted that the reinstatement request could not be granted beyond 2019 when he would have completed 35 years of service.
The court, on the other hand, refused to allow the complaint’s request that he be raised to the rank of major general, as his peers were until they retired in 2019.
He further stated that his promotion could not be done orally and that it is a privilege rather than a right under the law.
“The claimant’s June 9, 2016, retirement violates the Armed Forces Act, and his condition of service is invalid.” The defendant must reinstall the claimant as a Nigerian Army brigadier general till 2019.
Mr. Kanyip requested that he be given his wages from the time he was fired until the day he should have retired in 2019,”
Details later…