Army stops recruitment of ‘child soldiers’

BY EMEKA MAMAH
The Nigerian Army has abolished direct absorption of “child” soldiers from the Nigerian Military School, NMS, Zaria, into the Army. This was made known in a statement by Col O. U. Abdul for the Director of Army Information in Abuja.

Abdul explained that the decision to stop the absorption of the products of the NMS was in line with the United Nations Convention on child soldiering among others.

“It is pertinent to point out that the NMS was established in 1964 to meet up with the basic academic and manpower requirements of the Nigerian Army in the early days of Nigeria’s independence.

“However in 2009, the Nigerian Army decided to review the relevance and suitability of the school in line with its current manpower requirements and the UN Convention on child soldiering among other things.

“Really, the administrative burden of managing the products of the school in the Army units has been cumbersome’’ hence ‘’a decision was then taken to overhaul the School’s curriculum where armed and combat training for boy- soldiers was proscribed in line with the relevant UN Standards”.

“It is then obvious that in line with this arrangement and in consonance with the practice in other services, automatic absorption of the product of the NMS into NA has to stop”.

“Consequently, graduating students of the NMS were not to be posted to Army units automatically since that decision was reached in 2009.

“This also implies that products of the school opting to take up  careers in the Army must go through the normal recruitment procedures with other candidates but with priority given to them.

“The school therefore remains a military school with the exception of weapon training and military tactics, especially at JSS I – SSS II levels.

“The Nigera Army considers it most expedient to make this clarification in order to correct some misconceptions which are currently being canvassed in some quarters.’’