A 39-year-old female soldier, Lance Corporal Philomena Nnamoko, has cried out following the Nigerian Army refusal to discharge her from service.

Nnamoko, who is currently serving in Ilese Barracks, Ijebu Odu, Ogun State said she had written a series of letters to the authorities seeking voluntary discharge over her health condition but she has been ignored.

The soldier said her trouble began early 2017 when she was diagnosed with fibroid and asked to leave the Army because of her illness but her request was turned down.

Speaking with the Punch on Thursday the Enugu State indigene, with force number 09 NA/64/5618, said: “I am gradually losing my mind, I am psychologically imbalanced, and people are saying they want to book me for AWOL. I cannot go through that torture again. I want to leave the service.

The pain is too much. I want to be discharged from this job.

“The last letter I wrote was on December 11, 2022, and the last batch of those discharged was on July 28, 2023, but my name was not there. Even those who had just written theirs and submitted it in January and February were discharged.

“I have written more than 10 letters to the Army asking for a voluntary discharge but I have not been considered. I don’t know what I have done.”

Counsel for the soldier, Kayode Oshiyemi, said, “She is currently going through an emotional trauma. She has written three letters. But why she is not being discharged is still a mystery to us.

“Let them let her go, she wants to leave the service. She comes to my office crying every day. Please, let the Army discharge her freely, she wants out.”

Also, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said, “The Nigerian Army is not an Army of conscription. There are terms and conditions of service guiding the enlistment or commissioning, period of service and even discharge or retirement of personnel of the Nigerian Army. Once the personnel concerned meets these provisions for discharge or retirement, it will be approved.”