Nigerian Army detained a soldier, Lance Corporal Musa Adamu, who is serving with the Amphibious Training School in Calabar, Cross River State, for breaking various articles of the Armed Forces Act, not because he changed his faith.
The Army clarified the situation in a statement issued by Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations.
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According to internet media, Adamu was held for 45 days and his bank account was suspended by Army authorities for preaching about Jesus Christ while in uniform on social media, just days after converting to Christianity.
According to the statement, his action was libellous and “not only a misrepresentation of the true situation, but an outrageous falsehood tainted with religious bigotry.”
The disciplinary commander claimed his action was capable of producing disaffection among personnel as well as bringing disgrace and distractions to the army’s path of carrying out its constitutional responsibility.
“To set the record straight, Lance Corporal Musa Adamu, a personnel of the Amphibious Training School, was attached to 63 Brigade to participate in an ongoing operation, during which he was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform in violation of the Armed Forces of Nigeria’s existing Social Media policy.”
“This prompted relevant authorities to summon him for questioning.” Rather than appear for the investigation, he fled for nearly six and a half months, resulting in the soldier being declared Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).
“It must be stated that if a member of the military is absent from his unit for seven days without justification, he will be declared AWOL.”
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“This instantly causes his salary account to be frozen until the personnel returns to the unit and is arraigned and sanctioned.”
“Contrary to the mistaken impression that the soldier was imprisoned for converting from Islam to Christianity and preaching the gospel, the soldier was taken into custody for investigation and in accordance with statutory provisions enshrined in the Nigerian Armed Forces Act CAP 20: The Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which the soldier violated.”
