The Nigerian Army has said Lance Corporal Musa Adamu was not detained because he converted from Islam to Christianity.
Army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu in a statement said Adamu is in custody for violation of some provisions of the Armed Forces Act.
An earlier report by Sahara Reporters claim Adamu was detained for converting from Islam to Christianity and also preaching the gospel.
But the Nigeria Army said the report is not only a misrepresentation of the true situation but a falsehood tainted with religious bigotry being peddled against the force.
The Army spokesman explained that Adamu, who is attached to Amphibious Training School committed an offence that was in “violation of extant Social Media policy for the Armed Forces of Nigeria” for preaching in uniform on a social media platform while he was attached to 63 Brigade to participate in an ongoing operation.
“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 on Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL). The action of the personnel violates Section 58 (a) (b) Obstruction of Provost Officers and Section 59 (a) (b) Absence Without Leave,” Nwachukwu said.
He disclosed that once a personnel is absent from his unit for 7 days without any justification, he will be declared on AWOL.
“This automatically triggers the freezing of his salary account, until the personnel returns to unit and is arraigned and sanctioned,” Nwachukwu said.
“It is equally important to state that contrary to the erroneous impression that the soldier is being victimized for converting from Islam to Christianity and for preaching the gospel, the soldier was rather taken into custody for investigation and in pursuant 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.
“It is expedient to point out, that each and every personnel of the NA functions under a Corps or Department with stipulated statutory responsibilities manned by qualified personnel trained to effectively execute those duties.”
He noted that religious affairs of the NA are handled by designated clergies in the Directorates of Chaplain Services (Protestant), (Roman Catholic) and Islamic Affairs.
Nwachukwu said the Personnel of these Directorates are the ones mandated to conduct all religious activities to cater for the spiritual needs of all personnel of the NA, both in the theatres of operations and within the barracks.
“The question begging for answer is, if the NA allowed the soldier to change his religion, why then would the NA victimize him? It is ironical therefore, that an institution that promotes the spiritual wellbeing of its personnel is alleged to have detained the soldier for the expression of his faith, even when it is abundantly clear that he has the opportunity to also change his Corps to any of the Army’s Chaplaincy,” Nwachukwu said.