Defense Minister: N134.74 billion in deberment allowance would be paid to retired military members

On Friday, Mohammed Badaru, the minister of defense, revealed that the federal government had granted N134,749,953,243.69 for retired military personnel’s security debarment allowance.

The minister claims that the allowance’s acceptance shows how dedicated the government is to the welfare of veterans.

Recall that retired military personnel staged many nationwide protests against the debarment allowance’s implementation delays during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Badaru who was speaking at the ministerial briefing to kickstart activities for the 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, however, noted that there will be a phased implementation of the Security Debarment Allowance for the hitherto excluded veterans.

His words, “To demonstrate our commitment to veterans’ welfare, the FG has approved the sum of N134,749,953,243.69 for security debarment allowance.

“By this, all veterans who retired/discharged honourably from the services of the Armed Forces of Nigeria will reap this benefit.

“Our service personnel and veterans deserve the best, and the best they will get.”

While promising to train and equip Armed Forces personnel with combat capabilities and modern wares to reduce casualties during operations, the minister commended the armed forces for remaining focused and undaunted in their determination to defeat and overcome security threats confronting the country

“The successes recorded by our Armed Forces have only served as encouragement to persevere until victory is finally assured and all our displaced citizens return home.

“We, therefore, look forward to adopting a proactive approach to combating our security challenges by harnessing our intelligence resources and having strong partnerships with our West African neighbours

“The Federal Government will also continue to equip the Armed Forces with combat capabilities, training and equipment to reduce to the barest minimum, causalities due to operations.

“We are indeed hopeful that the pledge and focus of Mr. President to bring an end to all security challenges quickly will be realised.”

He acknowledged that the country has been battling serious internal security challenges for over a decade saying this has stretched the resources of the nation and the Armed Forces.

“The Armed Forces of Nigeria has risen to these challenges not counting the costs in terms of ultimate sacrifice being paid by our troops.

“For this reason, I can say the situation is gradually improving considering where we were before now,” he said.