Christopher Musa, the minister of defence, says the federal government has increased the minimum monthly salary of Nigerian soldiers from N49,000 to N100,000 to improve their welfare.
Musa spoke on Wednesday during an interview with News
Central ahead of the broadcast of its NC Exclusive programme on Friday.
The minister, who previously served as the chief of defence
staff (CDS), said the military remains 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.
While acknowledging that the current defence budget is
inadequate, he said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration has
significantly increased military personnel’s salaries.
He also called for the death penalty for kidnappers, saying
stiffer punishment is needed to deter the rising incidence of abductions across
the country.
“I think we should do that. There must be deterrence. The
laws are soft, and that’s why people take advantage. If they know once you
commit an offence, there must be punishment,” he said.
Speaking on the recent abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo
state, the minister described the incident as unfortunate, alleging that the
kidnappers were attempting to pressure the military into releasing some of
their detained commanders.
According to him, the abductors also threatened to kill the
children if security forces intensified rescue efforts.
“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.
“They are now threatening that if we come any closer,
they’re going to kill all the kids,” he added.
The minister also dismissed allegations that soldiers are
poorly fed, insisting that claims circulating in the public space are
misleading.
Referring to an incident involving an influencer identified
as Justice Crack, Musa said the officer in the video deliberately created a
false impression about the quality of meals served to soldiers.
“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,” he added.
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