A dismissed Nigerian soldier, Rotimi Olamilekan, popularly known as Soja Boi, has challenged the Nigerian Army to make its payroll public after displaying bank transaction alerts he said reflected the earnings of serving soldiers.
In a video posted on Tuesday, Olamilekan said he was speaking out to reveal what soldiers truly earn and the conditions under which many of them serve.
He insisted that his comments were not intended to damage the image of the Nigerian Army but to present what he described as the reality on the ground.
According to him, one of the transaction alerts he displayed showed a payment of N112,061.59, which he identified as his monthly salary while in service.
He also claimed soldiers received a N20,000 allowance, which he described as a welfare-related payment, as well as a N45,000 operational allowance for personnel deployed to active conflict areas such as Maiduguri.
He added that there was also a N6,000 security allowance.
Olamilekan explained that the operational allowance was only paid to soldiers actively involved in military operations and not to personnel on regular barracks duty.
He said soldiers posted to barracks were typically entitled only to their salary and the N20,000 allowance.
He also repeated his claim that soldiers often purchase some of their own protective gear, including helmets and fragmentation jackets.
He urged Nigerians with relatives in the military to verify the claims for themselves and insisted that many serving personnel were aware of the situation but were unable to speak publicly.
Olamilekan further challenged the Army to release its payroll records if it believed his claims were false.
The former lance corporal had earlier attracted public attention after criticising the welfare conditions of military personnel and calling for better treatment of soldiers.
He was later dismissed from service.
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