Over 196 soldiers stationed in the North-East and other active regions have reportedly requested voluntary retirement from the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja.

SaharaReporters reports that most of the soldiers resigning had indicated interest to join the military forces of other countries, including the British Army, Ukrainian Army, and other Commonwealth nations.

The soldiers, drawn from various formations of the army across the country according to the list obtained on Saturday, are all junior cadres.

The Chief of Army Staff has since approved their formal disengagement.

The list of the exiting soldiers did not distinguish between those embarking on voluntary retirement and those leaving the army on medical grounds.

However, none of them had neither attained retirement age nor the mandatory years of service.

The approval of their voluntary disengagement dated August 23 was signed by Brigadier OH Musa.

SaharaReporters recently reported moves by many soldiers to resign over poor welfare, inadequate equipment, and lack of motivation within the Nigerian Army.

Multiple sources who spoke to the newspaper had expressed frustration with the Nigerian government’s failure to provide them with decent living conditions, modern weapons, and adequate compensation to combat a series of non-state actors ravaging the country.