LISTEN : Army bans civilian use of army uniforms

The Nigerian Army yesterday banned the unauthorized wear­ing of Army uniforms, accoutrement and kits by civilians and deserters of the Army, even as it is set to commence small scale business programmes for dependents of soldiers in the Barracks nationwide.......


A statement through the Director of Army Public Re­lations, DAPR, Colonel Sani Usman, said that Ex-Stu­dents of Nigerian Military School Zaria (aka Ex-Boys) in civil institutions were guilty of wearing army uniforms and would hence­forth face severe sanctions.

Usman said that the ille­gal practice of wearing Ni­gerian Army uniforms and kits by ex-boys apart from obvious security implica­tions, impacted negatively on the image of Nigerian Army.

“It is pertinent to reiter­ate that wearing of military uniforms or kits on campus by anyone is absolutely un­lawful.

“More worrisome, is the fact that most of the offend­ers are ex-students who have deserted the Army, and are not legally entitled to have military uniforms or items within their pos­sessions.

“It is particularly im­portant to mention that the ex-boys who left Ni­gerian Military School from 2012 when the school ceased to be a military in­stitution, are expected to surrender their military uniforms and kits after graduation”, Usman said.

He urged the security departments of civil in­stitutions and the general public to report suspected impostors to nearest Nige­rian Army formations or Security Agencies.

Concerning the small scale business pro­gramme, tagged “The COAS Barracks Invest­ment Initiative Pro­gramme (COAS BIIP)”, Usman said that the sensi­tization exercise is to com­mence in all cantonments and barracks across the country.

He said that the invest­ment scheme was an initia­tive of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, as part of his welfare drive for officers and soldiers by engaging their spouses and dependants living in the barracks on income yield­ing agricultural ventures such as animal husbandry, fish farming, poultry and other profit making agri­cultural activities.