The Nigerian Army has raised concerns over the poor enlistment of south-east youths into the military service.
Speaking on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Enugu, Chima Ekeator, leader of the 2025 army recruitment enlightenment team, said the “south-east is gradually losing out on what is rightfully theirs”.
Ekeator said out of 200 slots for Enugu in this year’s recruitment, the state had barely gotten 100 applications.
“Our people are losing what rightly belongs to them. Each year, whenever a slot is being allocated to our people, we keep noticing that the number of applicants from our side is usually very poor,” Ekeator said.
“Take, for example, Enugu state was given about 200 slots, but the people who made it were never up to 100 due to poor application.
“This has also become a recurring decimal in other states in the south-east.
Ekeator, who urged south-east youths to apply in their numbers and to fill their quotas in the ongoing recruitment process, noted that states like Kaduna had received over 3,000 applications in the ongoing army recruitment.
He rebuffed claims that south-easterners were deliberately sent to the battlefronts to be killed, adding that the region is also holding strategic positions in the army presently.
“Today’s statistics on the number of applicants show that Kaduna has about 3,000 applicants, while Enugu is still battling with about a hundred; and by the time we will be through with screening, you will not have enough to recruit from the state,” he added.
“There are a lot of falsehoods out there stating that the Igbo are being killed because they are the first to be sent to the battlefield.
“These things are not true. After all, we that are here have risen high in the Army, and we are telling you that they are lies.
“Today in the Nigerian Army, our brother is one of the top commanders in charge of equipment. His name is Chibueze Ogbuabor.” (The Cable)
