By Desire Emmanuel
The National Industrial Court, Abuja, has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a female soldier, Private Etim, who was dismissed in 2022, describing the dismissal as unlawful and unconstitutional.
Justice Sinmisola Adeniyi, who gave the the judgment, also ordered the army to pay her outstanding salaries from 2022 within 30 days while also awarding N2 million damages against the Nigerian Army.
The trial judge set aside the purported summary trial and dismissal of Private Etim from the Nigerian Army, describing it as being unconstitutional and unlawful.
According to court documents, Private Etim averred that until her dismissal, she served as a soldier with the Nigerian Army at the Depot, Zaria.
She added that the summary trial conducted against her by the Nigerian Army on a trumped-up charge of going away without official leave (AWOL) was false and that her dismissal from the service was unlawful, unconstitutional and in breach of her right to fair hearing.
However, during the trial, the Nigerian Army maintained that Private Etim completed her course at NAOWA Vocational Training sometime in December 2020; that she ought to have reported back to her duty post, but after she concluded her course, she failed to report without any reason given for her absence.
The Nigerian Army told the court that the dismissal of Private Etim was in accordance with the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of personnel of the Nigerian Army, and urged the court to dismiss the case.
But counsel to Private Etim argued that the course was suspended with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown in March 2020, and when she reported to her Unit, the Head Clerk told her that the unit has not received any message of the suspension and the returning message (RTU) for her to return to the unit .
The counsel added that she regularly reported at the Unit but she was told that the RTU message was yet to be received in respect of her return.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Sinmisola Adeniyi reiterated that in employment founded by statute, the staff cannot be validly removed from the employment unless the provisions provided in the statute for removing the staff are followed strictly.
The judge held that Private Etim has proved by her Statement of Account that her salary was paid till May 2022, and by implication, the Nigerian Army failed to prove the allegation of AWOL against her.
The court added that the evidence of the Nigerian Army’s witness under cross-examination is also proof of the truth of the evidence of Private Etim that she did not get the signal from her unit (Depot NA) for her return to the unit after the end of her course, and that the allegation made by the Nigerian Army against Private Etim for the offence of away without official leave remains unsubstantiated.
Justice Adeniyi also stated that a close examination of the report of the Board of Inquiry revealed that Private Etim was not invited by the board, and the offence was reported by the same officer, who failed to communicate the return message to Private Etim.
The judge therefore ruled that the offence of being away without official leave levelled against Private Etim was unsubstantiated, and the whole trial by the Nigerian Army was unlawful.
