The Nigerian Army has announced an investigation into the conditions at its detention facilities following a viral video showing soldiers complaining about overcrowding and poor feeding at the 8 Division Garrison detention facility in Sokoto State.
In the video, which surfaced online on Friday, the soldiers expressed their dissatisfaction with the facility’s conditions, claiming there were over 100 in the facility, with over 40 awaiting confirmation of their sentencing.
They also lamented the inadequate food supply, stating that their food was seized, and they were not allowed to purchase food.
The Director, of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, said in a statement on Monday that the army chief finds the incident “unfortunate” and has ordered an investigation to determine how widespread the problems are.
The statement partly read, “Undoubtedly, the Sokoto barracks detention facility incident is quite unfortunate and an embarrassment to the sound administration efforts of the Chief of Army Staff, to say the least.
“In line with his leadership style, the COAS has instituted an appropriate investigation into the incident to determine whether it is an isolated or widespread situation in similar detention facilities.”
The Army also said it would not tolerate the way the soldiers expressed their grievances, and those involved could face disciplinary action.
The statement added, “While the service regrets and has gleaned some lessons from the incident, it will however not condone the manner the inmates expressed their purported grievance. Mutiny and conduct prejudicial to service order are grievous misconducts, and this very incident epitomises such.
“As such, as Army, on the one side, goes ahead to implement the COAS directive to look into the state of all NA detention facilities, as detainees’ lives also matter, the Service shall not shy away from appropriately sanctioning the soldiers involved in the unruly behaviour in its Sokoto detention facility for failing to exhaust all available options to channel their complaints to the appropriate authorities.”
While the Army regrets the incident and has learned from it, it will not tolerate the manner in which the soldiers expressed their grievances. Those involved may face disciplinary action for mutiny and conduct prejudicial to service order.
The investigation will examine the state of all NA detention facilities to ensure detainees’ lives are respected. If it is discovered that the soldiers’ complaints were ignored, necessary administrative actions will be taken against those responsible.
The soldiers in the video are awaiting confirmation of their sentencing, and the Army has committed to providing a “relatively decent life” for all detainees until their sentences are confirmed.
