Nigerian Soldier Punished over Social Media Abuse, AWOL, Not for Preaching Gospel, Says PRNigeria Fact-Check
Authorities of the Nigerian military did not dismiss Lance Corporal Musa Adamu for converting to Christianity and preaching the gospel on social media.
It was because the soldier violated guidelines on the use of social media and also absconded without presenting himself for fair hearing – Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL), an investigation by PRNigeria fact-checkers revealed.
A video of a dismissed military man trending on social platforms claimed that he was arrested and dismissed for “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” on social media after converting to Christianity from Islam. https://prnigeria.com/2023/09/06/soldier-dismissed-preaching-gospel/
The caption of the viral video read: ‘Nigerian soldier dismissed for wearing his soldier uniform and always praying and preaching on Tiktok’.
However, PRNigeria fact check desk discovered that the Nigerian military has issued an official statement on the soldier.
Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director, Army Public Relations in a statement described some of the reports on the soldier as “false, a misrepresentation of the true situation, and an outrageous falsehood, tainted with religious bigotry, being peddled against the Nigerian Army.”
According to the statement, Lance Corporal Musa Adamu of the Amphibious Training School was attached to 63 Brigade to participate in an ongoing loperation, during which he was found preaching in uniform on a social media platform in violation of the extant social media policy of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
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“This prompted his invitation for interrogation by relevant authorities. Rather than present himself for the investigation, he absconded for about six and a half months, resulting in the declaration of the soldier as Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).”
Brig. Gen. Nwachukwu stated that “the action of the personnel violates Section 58 (a) (b) Obstruction of Provost Officers and Section 59 (a) (b) Absence Without Leave”.
The statement further added: “It must be clarified that once a personnel is absent from his unit for seven days without any justification, he will be declared AWOL.
“This automatically triggers the freezing of his salary account, until the personnel returns to his unit and is arraigned and sanctioned.
“It is equally important to state that contrary to the erroneous impression that the soldier is being victimised for converting from Islam to Christianity and for preaching the gospel, the soldier was rather taken into custody for investigation and in pursuance of statutory provisions enshrined in the Armed Forces Act CAP 20, the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which the soldier contravened. His detention is, therefore, not unlawful.”
PRNigeria reached out to multiple military sources who corroborated the official statement and pointed to the relevant provisions of the military law but pleaded anonymity since they were not authorised to speak to the press.
Meanwhile, PRNigeria can authoritatively report that there are cases of military personnel being sanctioned for violating military rules and regulations on social media usage.
For instance, about 140 military personnel were penalized in 2018 for violating the military social media guidelines.
Similarly, on 15th of November 2021, a well known social media skit maker Abdulgafar Ahmad, aka Cute Abiola, was also arrested on the ground of violating military social media regulations, leading to his voluntary resignation from the force.
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