There may be respite for members of Regular Course 35, 36 and 37, as the Defence Headquarters, Thursday, allayed fears of mass retirement in the military, following the appointment of Major General Farouk Yahaya as the Chief of Army Staff.
Yahaya is a member of Regular Course 37; he replaced the late COAS, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in a plane crash.
The media was awash with reports of sacking of members of Course 35, 36 and 37, who are mainly Generals in line with military tradition.
But the Acting Director Defence Media Operations, Brigadier General Benard Onyeuko, during a press conference with Defence Correspondents, said retirement for senior officers is only on voluntary basis.
According to him, “at this point you are all aware of the appointment of the new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya. This has stirred up lot of rumours in the media about mass retirements in the military. I wish to use this medium to dispel such unfounded rumours. Retirement is only on voluntary basis for senior officers who desire to do so. At this point, no retirements has been authorized by the Military High Command”.