Th e Nigerian Army has redeployed, cancelled or amended postings of seven major generals, 45 brigadier generals and 597 other offi cers last week, in one of its most far-reaching shake-up exercise in recent years. No reasons were readily cited for the new postings and cancellations and amendments of previous postings, but military sources said at the weekend that the Chief of Army Staff , Tukur Buratai, approved the exercise on July 18. Amongst the seven major generals aff ected, the Army cancelled the redeployment of Adeniyi Oyebade, two months after he was transferred from being General Offi cer Commanding of Nigerian Army 1 Division, Kaduna, to Army Headquarters in Abuja as chief of logistics. But no new posting was assigned to Oyebade, who was indicted last year in the December 2015 massacre of Shiites in Zaria.
Th e shake-up was announced in a memo with reference number MS/G1/3OO/2O7 and signed by I.O. Rabiu, a major general and Military Secretary, military sources said. About 100 Nigerian Army formations, units and departments within and outside the country were copied in the memo, it was further learnt. Redeployment has become a frequent feature in the Nigerian Army since Buratai assumed offi ce two years ago, but none of them was as sweeping as the recent exercise. Th ree major shake-ups had been recorded within the last seven months, with the most recent aff ecting 147 offi cers in May. A total of 227 offi cers were aff ected in a similar exercise last December.
A breakdown of the remaining 597 aff ected offi cers shows that they included 197 colonels, 50 lieutenant colonels, 99 majors, 138 captains, 111 lieutenants and two second lieutenants. Th irty-eight out of the total 649 offi cers had their postings cancelled or deleted. Th e fi gure included two major generals, one brigadier general, seven colonels, fi ve lieutenant colonels, 10 majors, eight captains and fi ve lieutenants. While eight of the fi gure had their postings deleted; 30 offi cers’ postings were amended by the Army. “It is the responsibility of all formation/unit commanders whose offi cers are aff ected by this posting to implement accordingly. “Offi cers must take over on the eff ective dates indicated. Formation/unit commanders will be held responsible for lapses in the implementation of the directives contained therein,” the memo stated. PREMIUM TIMES
