Nigeria Army reacts to claims Boko Haram members are paid better than soldiers

Nigerian Army has debunked the claim that Boko Haram terrorists are better paid than Nigeria’s military personnel, saying it is a “pure lie.”

“This is not true, pure lie and highly irresponsible comment coming from a supposedly knowledgeable person of his calibre,” Army spokesman Sagir Musa said in a statement.

A member of the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative (PCNI), Sidi Ali Mohammed, Monday had disclosed that Boko Haram fighters receive $3000 (an equivalent of N1, 080,000 daily) as an allowance, while Nigerian soldiers get a paltry N1000.

But the army says the statement was “a false claim credited to one Doctor Sidi Ali Mohammed, a member of the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative.”

However, the army said “It is also criminal and preposterous to compare the gallant soldiers of our Armed Forces with the ragtag terrorists’ criminal gang.

The army spokesman argued that “there is no such basis at all between the outlawed criminal terrorist who commits crime against humanity and our highly patriotic, courageous and brave soldiers whose sacrifice cannot be quantified.”

The Nigerian Army accused Mohammed of aiding the Boko Haram terrorist group “for having the knowledge of how much a terrorist earns per day to commit atrocities against fellow Nigerians and other innocent people including women and children.”

The army spokesman said Mohammed’s statement is an attempt to demoralise the patriotic soldiers serving their fatherland so that the terrorists will take advantage of it.

He called on Nigerians “to discountenance the statement credited to Doctor Sidi Ali Mohammed; while we take necessary steps to formally report him to the appropriate authorities to further substantiate these unfounded allegations.”

Musa assured the public that the Nigerian Army would remain resolute and focused in the fight against terrorism and insurgency – no amount of distraction or terrorists’ propaganda will dissuade it.”