The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has said Nigerian soldiers now earn a minimum monthly salary of N100,000 and have better food rations.
Musa disclosed this during an interview on News Central on Wednesday, July 9.
The former Chief of Defence Staff also stated that the military remained underfunded despite the improvement in personnel welfare.
“When they started, a soldier was collecting N49,000 monthly. We tried so hard. Now he’s collecting N100,000,” he said.
The Minister also dismissed claims that soldiers prosecuting the war against insurgents are poorly fed. He made reference to the food portion of soldiers that social critic, Justice Crack brought on social media and was arrested and tried in court for.
“The soldier’s food was okay. There was meat; there was all this. But he told them to pull out those things and make it look as if those things were not there,” the minister said
On the recent abduction of pupils in Oyo State, the minister described the incident as unfortunate, alleging that the k!dnappers were attempting to force the military to release some of their detained commanders.
“You know, it’s a very sad event. Unfortunately, bad things do happen. For whatever reason, they are looking for leverage because we have some of their commanders with us, and they feel taking these kids and holding them to ransom will make us release their commander,” he said
According to him, the abductors also threatened to kill the children if security forces intensified rescue operations.
“They are now threatening that if we come any closer, they’re going to k!ll all the kids” he said