A former army chaplain, who was dismissed for having sex with a stranded lady while guarding a church, has asked the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to review the decision and reinstate him into the Nigerian Army.
The Lance Corporal, attached to 1 Division Chaplaincy Services (Protestant), Kaduna, in his appeal, argued that he was tried and dismissed from service by a Muslim, Major Jimoh, instead of the chaplain officers.
The soldier’s troubles started when he allegedly had sex with the unidentified lady, who solicited financial assistance from him, while he was on duty at the Protestant Church, Camilla Barracks, Kaduna, on October 16, 2013.
It was gathered that the lady informed him that she was denied access to a patient by the management of the 44 Reference Hospital, Sabo, on the grounds that she was late to work.
The former military chaplain allegedly promised to pay the lady N3,000 to have sex with her, but after having his way, he gave her N2,000, which led to an argument.
The lady consequently complained to the military authorities, which put him on trial for conduct prejudicial to service discipline and dismissed him from service.
In a letter to the CoAS dated July 7, 2020, by his lawyer, Johnson Oyewole, the ex-chaplain also complained that he was detained in the guardroom for 30 days before his dismissal.
The letter read in part, “He was put on mock trial with the offence of conduct prejudicial to service discipline and punishable under Section 103 (1) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap A20, LFN, 2004. He was charged before Major Jimoh, who dismissed our client on January 21, 2014, thereby truncating his chosen career at the embryo stage.”
