Army Explains Withdrawal Of Soldiers From Check Points

The 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, has explained the sudden withdrawal of soldiers from the Enugu-Onitsha expressway.

The Deputy Director of the Public Relations Unit, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, told newsmen in Enugu recently that the withdrawal was a mere routine activity in the formation.

Musa explained that usually the division changed deployments forth-nightly to discourage familiarisation by the soldiers in their places of posting.

“New people are already there. Nothing to my knowledge went wrong and that exercise has been very useful to the South East,’’ he said.

It was, however, gathered that the soldiers were on Monday withdrawn from both the Oji River and Ugwuoba checkpoints on the Enugu-Onitsha expressway because of their unruly behaviour.

It was observed that from Monday until the time of filling this report on Wednesday, no soldier was seen at the notorious spots, thereby instilling fears in motorists of being attacked by hoodlums.

Meanwhile, at the Ikenga Hotel junction in Awka, 10 soldiers were seen carrying out their duties.

The rate of highway robbery had reduced since 2009 when soldiers started the stop-and-search exercise on the route.