The Nigeria Minister of Defence has set up a special committee to investigate and advise government on how best to tackle the problems of poor or delayed allowances of troops currently prosecuting the counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast.

According to the Defence Minister, Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali, the decision was informed by the recent rumours and alleged complaints by soldiers at the frontline.

Two weeks back, a report trended in the media in that there was disquiet in the Operation Lafiya Dole as soldiers protested non-payment of their allowances running into months.

But the Army Headquarters had swiftly punctured the claims even as it admitted delay in payments due to internal administrative hitches that had long been sorted out.

The minister said the initiative was “In line with the principle of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR considers welfare of troops very important, more especially now that the nation is confronted with security challenges which were caused due to poor leadership and zero commitment to national security in the past”.

The minister said despite the gesture of the President in ensuring that troops are well remunerated they “still experience some challenges ranging from delay in payments of operational and cash ration allowances which is meant to sustain them in the front line, the inability to access funds by troops, and in some cases omissions and wrong bank entries that made it difficult to pay such allowances into the individual accounts of the soldiers.”