Some ex-Nigerian soldiers, who served in the United Nations Mission in Liberia, have called on the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to review their compulsory retirement and reinstate them.

Some of the ex-soldiers were those retired for allegedly participating in mutiny after staging a protest in Akure over non-payment of their entitlements by the authorities of the Nigerian Army, spoke to our correspondent in Osogbo on the telephone on Sunday.

The former UN peacekeepers staged a protest in Akure in 2008 when their entitlements including their savings were not paid on their return from the peacekeeping operation in Liberia.

One of the soldiers, Yomi Ibukun, who was a lance corporal before they were sacked, said that it was not appropriate to render young male and female soldiers, who had been trained to handle guns, jobless.

Ibukun said three of the ex-UN soldiers given compulsory retirement; Paul Maikudi (corporal); Pascal Stephen (lance corporal) and Kabiru Mohammed (private) had died.

Another ex-soldier, Abass Salisu, who was a corporal, said that all of them were young and their skills were still needed by the military.

He lamented the alleged injustice done to them, saying the victims of the injustice would be grateful if they could be reinstated.

Ibukun said, “We thank God that Gen. Buhari eventually won the presidential election. The President-elect is a former military officer and he would appreciate our case if it is brought before him.

“We are appealing to him to correct the injustice done to 27 of us. Some senior officers refused to pay us our entitlements during our operations in Liberia and they sentenced us to life imprisonment after the protest.

“The sentence was commuted to seven years imprisonment before we were freed but later compulsorily retired.

“It is sad because while those of us whose entitlements were stolen were punished and retired, the officers who stole our money suffered loss of ranks temporarily but they had since been restored to their old ranks.”

Musa Salisu, who was a corporal before he was compulsory retired, said the authorities paid part of the entitlements which led to the protest and had refused to pay the balance despite the punishment meted out to them.

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